


Cecil Parker & the Children of the Underground: Chroseus

by spacedaddy480



Series: Cecil Parker & The Children of the Underground [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Other, Percy Jackson References, Percy Jackson Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:50:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 39,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaddy480/pseuds/spacedaddy480
Summary: Cecil Parker is an incredibly lucky halfblood. They live in the custody of their godly parent, Persephone, and move between earth and the underworld in the summer and winter. But this year winter has come early and Cecil suspects fowl play when their mother goes missing. With a few friends from Camp Halfblood, Cecil ventures to the underworld to take back their mother and restore the seasonal balance. However, something bigger has a hand in this quest, and Cecil will have to learn how to pick their battles the hard way.





	1. An Early Winter. Hopefully Global Warming

Before this story starts, you need to know one thing. I am an incredibly lucky halfblood.

If you hear any other halfblood’s story, it probably won’t be like this one. A majority of us don’t meet or godly parents. A majority of us aren’t even claimed. I, however, have always lived with Persephone, and I may-or-may-not have taken it for granted. 

The family situation is complicated. My mother is the goddess of spring; you know, the one married to Hades? How then, one may ask, did she spawn a half-human child? I’ll spare you the details since it’s a touchy subject. They probably don’t want you to know. But at the end of the day they both cheated on each other with humans, so my mom isn’t completely at fault. Hades lives with his kid in the underworld year-round, I travel to and fro with Persephone according to the seasons. And we settled in Ohio. Because that's just how life is.

The spring and summer were better than any that came before. Mom’s garden grew tasty food for us. The sky was either sunny and cloudless or drowning us in rain. I’m a little strange for a halfblood- most kids hand human bodies and semi-godlike powers. Demi-godlike? Whatever. Persephone isn’t one of the Big 12 Olympians™ so my abilities aren’t that great, but she is the goddess of spring, and it shows on me. There are two little sprouts on the top of my head. And because the leaves are green they contrast with my ginger hair. I’m basically a little dwarf tree! My skin is tan, like an oak tree. And the swirls and freckles on my cheeks are details on tree bark. I’m not, like, literally a tree, but you can tell I’m Demeter’s grandkid. I’m not a halfblood, I’m a halfplant! (I am a halfblood, that’s just a joke.)

The spring and summer had bipolar weather and that’s great. Mom is a god so she didn’t need a job and I took online school classes. The seasons were wonderful while they lasted, but the first snow was in the middle of August. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it should snow in August, no matter what state you’re in. But instead of calling up Papa Hades mom started packing up our stuff. 

I was reluctant to leave, especially this early in the summer. So I sat in my room and read a comic book, surrounded by a kingdom of half-open suitcases. Colorful men and women in spandex was more entertaining than cringing at my winter wardrobe.

Knock-knock. “Cecil?”

“Yeaaah?”

“Are you paaaacked?”

“Uuuuh.” I glance up from the comic. The answer was no, but I didn’t even have to say it. My door handle was already shifting and turning, and in came my mother.  
Persephone looks nothing like the greek sculptures or paintings. Well, the sculptures are kinda close, I need to take into account that clothes change with the times. She has dark skin and hair like a cloud, or the fluffy water at the bottom of a waterfall. She often tied in floral ribbons and flowers but today her hair was up in a bun, probably to keep it out of the way while packing. Mom has vitiligo and there’s Specifically a heart-shaped white spot over the bridge of her nose. My theory is that Demeter kissed her there too often as a baby. But I don’t have any spots like that, so maybe not.

“Cecil,” Persephone looked around my room. “You are not packed.”

“I don’t think I said I was.”

Mom walked over and took my comic. “If it’s too hard, you should pack these first,” she smiled. “It’s something that interests you.”

“Yeaaah, that didn’t work,” I pick up some shortalls and fold them instead of another comic. “I got distracted and started reading.”

Mom slides my comic into a plastic sleeve and grabbed a few others I had in a stack, placing them all in an open suitcase on the floor. She closed it to test if it had more room, then packed a few pieces of clothes inside and zipped it up. 

“Why are we leaving so early this year?” I ask. I filled the pocket of a bag with chargers and cords to electronics. Wifi in Hades sucks so we bring our own mini-router.

“Because winter has arrived,” she said patiently, “and if we stay the plants will continue growing. They can’t live in this harsh weather. Mother must be mourning our deaths before it’s even occurred.”

That sounds morbid, but hear her out; Persephone and Dionysus are considered the most human gods because they die every year. Dionysus dies with the grape vines, fading from the world until they regrow the next season. Persephone descends to the underworld every winter and lives among the dead for winter. Technically, when one travels to Hades, they’re D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival.) 

Snow smacked onto my window and piled up on the shutters. After a while, my room was clear of any stray clothes and I had 3 bags packed to their limits. 

“Alright,” Persephone lifted them onto my bed. “I’m almost done with my own packing. Feel free to come help.”

“You helped me pack before you were even finished?”

“Yes.” She exited. My mom has weird priorities. 

After about half an hour of Minecraft PE (pocket edition) the sun was getting low and my mom still hadn’t come to tell me it’s time to leave. So I get off my butt and walk across the hall, tip-toeing because the tile floor is cold. I go to push open my mom’s door and call her name, but I hear speaking her before I do. She was on the phone.

“... are you sure it’s safer? Won’t they be more comfortable with... There isn’t a cabin for--”

Whoever was on the line kept cutting her off. He sounded familiar, but I couldn’t understand anything he actually said. I stepped away from the door and inched down the stairs before she caught me eavesdropping. This family values privacy. But also, if they were talking about what I thought they were talking about, I’d go start the car and drive away myself. Not that I have a license, since I’m only 15

The only thing left in the kitchen was a packet of PopTarts. They were chocolate, though, which is the worst kind. Thankfully my mother came downstairs with her luggage before I convinced myself to eat it. I followed her example and fetched my bags, packing them in the trunk of the frost-covered car.


	2. I'm Not A Great Swimmer

“Hey mom?”

The snow got worse. It was almost a storm now, but surely it wouldn’t get worse. Because it was August. Even if it were snowing, it shouldn’t snow hard. This logic made no sense, but I stuck with it. Mom didn’t respond yet, so I repeated myself.

“Hey mom?”

“Yes, Cecil?”

“I’m glad I get to live with you.” I shifted in my seat, pulling a blanket over my legs. 

“Mhm.”

“And I’m glad I don’t have to live at the camp with the other halfbloods.”

Something made the car go BUMP. I assumed it was a speedbump. Even though we were on the highway. Again, I stick to the logic, as well as the oh-shit handles.

“Right.” Mom glanced in the rear-view mirror, but not towards me, through the back windshield. I could tell she was tense because it took a while for her to speak again. “Why don’t you like the camp, Cecil? You’ve never even been. Chroseus lives there.”

I didn’t say so, but in my mind, Camp Halfblood was where demigods go to die. Kids go there because their parents don’t love them. My parents loved me very much. I wasn’t Hades’s favorite child, but he treated me well, and gave me my own bedroom in the underworld. Persephone kept me close to her and protected me from monsters. I could defend myself, but having a god to keep you safe isn’t something you complain about. I told you- I am an incredibly lucky halfblood. I didn’t belong at that camp. It sucks that I had friends there.

“I just hate camps in general,” I lied. “So many people, so loud. Camps are social, and I’m not very social, you know that.”

She nodded. Snow smacked the car. I tried looking through the rear-view mirror because she obviously saw something I couldn’t. “But the people there are like you, Cecil. Wouldn’t it be nice to- to be around kids you can relate to?”

“I can’t relate to them.” I shook my head. Then I made a stupid decision; I sat up onto my knees and looked behind us through the back windshield. 

I couldn’t quite make it out, but I could tell a blizzard had formed. I wondered how the road wasn’t covered in ice. Through the static-like snow I could barely see… Something. It had a form, a body and head and limbs, but it wasn’t human. It wasn’t a god, either, or any kind of monster.

“Hey, mom?”

“Yes?”

“What is that?”

“What is what?”

Neither of us were as panicked as we should be with that thing on our tail. I could tell it was far away, but at the same time I felt like its eyes were 2 inches away from the car. How we were so far away from that thing was a real mystery. It was big enough to step forward and snatch up the car. I had a feeling it could if it wanted to. 

“That thing. You see it, right?”

Persephone swerved. Where were all the other cars? “I do not.”

“Mother.” I sank back down into my seat. 

“Are you sure you don’t like the camp?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sure you don’t like the camp?”

“Yes! Why are you asking me?”

I tried not to yell, but Persephone was always so dodgy, she never told me things straight. Especially when they were important things. The answer was so obvious I didn’t need an answer, I was just hoping it wasn’t the one I expected. Mom inhaled to respond but the car went BUMP again. The wind howled and the car tipped over, tossing me against the roof and window. I felt a sprout on my head hit the oh-shit handle and the stem almost snapped. I cursed aloud, but now we had bigger problems. No pun intended.

My sense of time was fuzzy so I don’t know how long I laid against the door, but I felt Persephone grab my arm and life me out of the car through the passenger’s door that now opened toward the sky. I felt snow hit my face and I blinked my eyes to try and see. Mom stood me on the asphalt and wiped her hands over a spot on my head. I couldn’t register what she was saying, but I realized that spot on my head was bleeding. My breathing sped up. Too much was happening at once for me to keep up. She was talking, I could see her mouth moving, though I had no clue what she was telling me. It was probably important. 

As Persephone picked glass out of my hair, I could see over her shoulder. I focused long enough to know what would happen next.

“Mom...”

I pointed and she looked behind her. The thing that was following us was still a blur to me, but I could make out it’s face now. It had long and jagged features like it’s head was completely made of icles. The rest of it was just a vague shape, as if it were light bent to make me think there was a body.

Persephone picked me up and only ran a few feet, but she must’ve changed her mind a few steps in. She turned around in a circle, strangely calm, observing her surroundings. 

“Cecil, do you know how long a winter should last?”

“M-mo..”

“Please answer me.” She stepped towards the edge of the bridge. “How long should winter last?”

I tried to focus on her, but the snow and my concussion made my vision blurred. I was seeing double. Two moms? God, if only…

“Six.. Six. Months.” I manage. Persephone turns her head as the thing roared at us. She ducked and a shadow passed over us, and the ground shook. A big ice boulder almost hit us.

“Yes. Six months,” she lowered her head and kissed my hair. The crack in my skull was covered by bark. “You will last that long. Please forgive me.”

She stood up straight and stepped up onto the sidewalk of the bridge. She lifted me up and shouted at the water.

“Poseidon!!” 

A chunk of ice hit her on the temple. Somehow I could hear the waves below and the thing roared again.

“Please,” Persephone held me higher, “you know where they should go.”

Suddenly the wind blew sideways, and then up, and then I fell.

And I fell,

And I fell,

and I fell some more,

SPLOOSH.

The water was freezing. I could see chunks of ice break the surface and then bob upwards. Most people float in water, even when they’re dropped several tens of feet from a bridge, but I sank. I watched the blue sky fade away and I felt my back hit the scummy bottom of the river. It didn’t stop there. The mud gave way under me and I continued down, the dirty water pulling me down like quicksand. The dirt that flew up formed into hands and pulled harder. I didn’t panic- The hands were from Hades. I was just going home, which was the plan, and the water suffocated me so much that I was loopy, like when the dentist gives you too much laughing gas.

But then another hand grabbed me, and the mud cleared.

And then I was dry.


	3. I Moved House Again, And I Have 1 Housemate

The next few moments of consciousness are pretty hazy. Whether they occurred over hours or days or weeks, I have no idea, but they went something like this.

I’d open my eyes and see the inside of a building. If a cabin and a house had a baby, it would be this place. There were 2 people I recognized and 2 strangers. 3 guys spoke by a table and someone out of my peripheral held a cup and straw to my mouth. Whatever I was drinking tasted like water, but it made me feel a little better.

“Why not the Demeter cabin? They’re closer to her than to Hades.”

“Please trust me, Mr. D. I know Cecil will be more comfortable with…”

I blinked my eyes to stay awake, but they were too heavy. I heard a hey, hey, and then I was out again.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

The next time I woke up I was on a porch. It was cold and I was sipping that stuff again. I knew it wasn’t water but I couldn’t think of what it was.I saw satyrs and nymphs playing tag in the fields.

“Good morning?”

I turned my head, and I thought I saw an angel. They had black hair that was fluffy like a cloud, and pale skin and muted blue eyes. Their eyes were dull, but they were intense and intimidating. I didn’t focus on their clothes; their face was too captivating.

“Where’d you come from?” They ask. I inhale to answer, but I cough and shake. Water poured out of my mouth.

“Shit! Sorry,” they use the blanket on my lap to wipe my face and chest. “I forgot you’re still waterlogged. Hey, focus on..”

And then I was out again.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

When I woke up for real, I was in a proper bed, and my eyes could stay open now. The mattress was soft and the blanket was weighted. I felt like a leaf in between book pages, but I was comfy. Despite this I sat up and scanned the room, which turned out to be the whole building. I was in another cabin, this one made of black columns and shiny marble floors. Must be easy to clean, I thought for some reason. There were bunk beds lining the walls, thus making a nice walkthrough in the middle of the cabin. The walls and shelves were bare. Only one other bed had anything on it. The design wasn’t very intuitive, considering the fact that it was snowing and the flakes piled up on the top bunks and floor.

“Are you up for good this time?”

I snap my head forward, knowing immediately who spoke. He was tall and had a few scars on his face. His hair was dark brown and very messy, a flower stuck behind his ear. Said ear had a chunk missing out of it. The scarring around the wounds was pale and pinkish, but his skin was caramel brown. He wore a button-down shirt under an orange shirt that read C H B. His arms were closed and I saw that most of his right pinky was gone. 

“Chroseus,” I said breathlessly. He nodded and smiled warmly.

“You’ve been in and out for a few days,” he sat on the mattress. “Are you finally up?”

I feel myself sniffle. “I think so..”

“Good,” he nods. Chro played with his cuffs, “Then can you tell me what happened? Where did Persephone go?”

I cough. He looked at me confused, and I rub my eyes. I’m not sure why I suddenly got so upset, but everything had happened so fast, it was finally processing. My head still hurt. I dipped my head and yellow petals fell onto my lap. Chroseus blinked at me, confusion turning to sympathy. He scooched closer and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close.

“Jonquil flowers,” he mused. “Flowers for needed affection.” 

Chroseus could read me like a book. A little backstory- Chro is the son of Charon, the ferryman of the river Styx. He stayed at Camp Halfblood during the summers and came to the underworld in the winters. Because my mom and I have the same living schedule we grew up together, he probably knows me better than my own half-brother. Chroseus was my confidant. I didn’t mind crying around him, or letting him know what flowers I grow. Chro would never make fun of me for being vulnerable. 

I sat up finally. I wiped my eyes, “I’m okay..”

Chrosues turned and sat with his legs crossed, facing me. He repeated, “Can you tell me what happened?” He cut out the part about mom. 

I explained what I could. But everything was a daze, everything after I hit my head in the window, and I didn’t know where my mom went. 

“If this is where I think it is, I wish Poseidon had let me sink,” I said bitterly.

“That’s no way to say thank you,” Chro chuckled. “There’s no guarantee that you would’ve gone downstairs easily. Hades could have dropped you into the Styx.”

“He would never,” I frowned. I knew he was joking but that was rude.

Past Chroseus I saw something move. I faced the columns and Chro followed my gaze. I opened my mouth but he spoke first.

“Celeste?” He asked no one. “Come out here, you’re not eavesdropping.”

A face pops out from behind a column. It was the girl I saw when I first woke up. Black hair, pretty eyes, snow white skin. They had the same Camp Halfblood shirt as Chro, but instead of an undershirt, they wore a white and blue flannel on top. They somehow wore shorts even though it was winter. And then I realize, despite the snow, it wasn’t that cold.

The stranger steps out from behind the column, “Sorry. Didn’t want them to faint again.”

I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t. It’s lame, but I couldn’t bring myself to say “hi.” So I let Chroseus do the talking.

“Cecil, Celeste,” he nodded between us. “Celeste, Cecil.” Chro faces me, “Celeste is from the Hermes cabin. You’re not staying there, but she’ll be your counselor. Actually, I’m your counselor, but she’s in training so she’s my shadow.”

Celeste and I were having a staring contest. I don’t know how I looked, but Celeste resembled a little kid looking at another. Like our parents were friends and now we had to be friends, and she wanted to share her toys and braid my hair. I was fine with it because I always won staring contests but also I don’t make friends easily. I’ll stick by Chroseus, thanks.

“So she’s the daughter of Hermes?” I ask, with nothing else to say.

“Nope,” Celeste chirped bluntly. 

Chroseus stood, holding out a hand for me. “The Hermes cabin is for anyone who hasn’t been claimed by a godly parent. Great segue, too, because we’re supposed to take you on a camp tour.”

I frowned, but stood and took his hand. I realize I have the same shirt as them, layered on top of my shortalls. This was fine because it was a little cold.

So, Camp Halfblood. If I got to stay in a place like this, I wouldn’t die. Six months, my mother said. I only had to be here for a winter season if Hades didn’t come pick me up. 

I hate to say it, but that sounded preferable.


	4. I Meet More Unloved Halfbloods

Chroseus and Celeste walked me through camp. There were 13 cabins for the 12 Olympians-plus-Hades. The cabins stood in a U shape around a little amphitheatre with a firepit. The Hades cabin, number 13, was at the end of the male god side of the U. I could tell it wasn’t always there because it made our side longer than the other, making the U kinda awkward. 

Chro guided me along the many cabins explaining who was where and what god was which, but I didn’t pay attention. I saw people peeking out and staring at us. Mostly me, being a new camper, willingly or otherwise. I think the Demeter cabin tried to abduct me and plant me in a pot. Other stray kids thought I was a dryad. Honestly, this tour made me dislike camp more and more with each new face I saw. No offense, campers, but I don’t belong here.

“This is the Apollo cabin,” Chroseus gestured. I wouldn’t describe it was a “cabin”, it was built more like a church or temple. There were stained-glass windows of Apollo and Helios, and a smaller one for Artemis, which I think was nice of them. She was their aunt and her cabin was empty, being the patron of maidenhood and everything. The Apollo walls were shiny but they weren’t straight-up gold. Apollo is a sun god so everything dedicated to him glittered, including his children. 

Most of them were out and about, I guess, but one sat on a bed with someone who stood out. The Apollo kid had strawberry blonde hair and pale olive skin. His eyes were literally the sun. Yellow and red and orange, almost too bright to look at. He must’ve noticed me squinting because then he looked away and blinked a few times. When he turned back they weren’t so bright.

“Sorry,” he said with a timid chuckle. “No sun in the wintertime. Gotta compensate.”

The other person on the bed held a deck of tarot cards. She had unhealthy tan skin and a port wine stain by her left eye. Said eyes were red. Her hair was silvery and brown with purple streaks, the colors seemed to shift in the light. Between shiny eyes and shifty hair, these two were hell to look at, especially next to each other. They both had Camp Halfblood shirts, of course. The girl’s was tucked into a skirt.

“Cecil! This is Kharis Brightly,” Celeste plopped down on the bed next to him. “Son of Apollo. And she’s Feya… Feyis.. Uh…”

“Feyisetan,” the girl sighed. Sounded like she got that a lot.

“Right,” Celeste looked apologetic. “Feyisetan Love, daughter of Eris.”

“I told you to call me Feya. For efficiency.”

I raised a brow, interrupting to address the elephant in the room. “Eris doesn’t have a cabin.”

“She stays with me in the Hermes cabin!” Celeste wrapped her arm around Feye.. Feyisa…. Ugh. Fine. She wrapped her arm around Feya happily.

Feya blushed with a laugh. That smile looked familiar to me. Where had I seen her? The memory was on the tip of my tongue. I stick the tip out between my lips and bite it. Nothin’.

“Feya does tarot card readings,” Chro stood behind her and peeked at the deck over her shoulder. He smiled, “90% accuracy rate.”

“80%,” she insisted, holding the deck close so he couldn’t see. 

“No, its 90%,” Kharis grinned. Then he looked at me, “She likes to talk herself down a lot.”

“Okay!” Feya stood up suddenly. “I think we should step outside. Let Kharis talk to Cecil. Figure out what’s bothering them.”

“Um, nothing is bothering me,” I said. Unconvincingly. 

“Psht, liar.” Kharis rolled his eyes as everyone else stepped away. “Apollo is the god of prophecy. It’s my job to know things. Sit, please,” he patted where Feya used to be, “and I can help you through it all.”

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

I told Kharis everything. The more I talked, the more I remembered. That must be the effect of the god of prophecy- it was his job to know things, and the more I told him things, the more things I knew. Did that make sense? Probably not. But apparently it made sense to Kharis, who pursed his lips as I concluded my rant.

“What’s bothering you most is your mother,” he said knowingly. “You don’t know where she is, or what that thing was. And you don’t like the camp.”

“Yeah,” I sank in my seat. “It’s mostly the latter that’s bringing me down.”

Kharis looked a little hurt, but he hid it with a smile. “It would’ve been nice to meet under different circumstances, though. Would you prefer that?”

I thought about it. Kharis seemed nice, but I can’t say whether or not I’m glad I met him. “I dunno.” I felt like an ass, but it was the truth. He’d probably know I was lying if I said otherwise. Kharis gave me a sympathetic look, completely hiding any offense he took.

“I see,” he stood. Kharis was like 6 feet tall, he towered over me even when I wasn’t sitting. “You should continue your tour. It’s important that you meet everyone you have to before leaving.”

“Leaving?” I perked up. “Am I going home?”

“What? I don’t know,” he frowned and shook his head. “I just know you won’t be staying here forever.”

“You have to tell me what that means,” I stand. If I was leaving, I wanted to know. “Is Hades coming to get me?”

Kharis shook his head again, avoiding eye contact. “I can’t say what I don’t know. Begging won’t get me to tell you what you want to hear. Please, just continue your tour.”

I clenched my fists. How dare this guy bait me into getting my hopes up! He was probably messing with me. I exited the Apollo cabin where Celeste, Chroseus and Feya were chatting. Upon seeing me leave, Feya quickly skittered back inside. I huff. Instead of telling them what Kharis and I talked about I let the guide me the rest of the way through the camp. They never noticed, but tears gathered in my eyes every so often. I wanted to go home; the longer I was here, the more I missed the Underworld. I prayed that Hades would climb up from a crack in the ground and take me downstairs. Unfortunately, it never happened, and night fell upon us.


	5. The Sun Has A Freaking Seizure

I floated through another night in the Hades cabin. Properly sleeping in a bed was nice because I’d been K.O. for 3 days and choosing to rest let me think about everything. It grounded me. Time felt normal for once. 

Apparently the next day was capture the flag. I’ve played this with kids on the street but I highly doubt it’s the same in a camp full of armed and trained halfbloods. Most kids were already in armor when I woke up. Thankfully I had Chroseus to hold my hand and walk me through the game. Two teams, two flags, anything goes except murder. Magic weapons/armor: yes. Deaths: usually no. 

The Hades cabin was in an alliance with the Apollo, Ares and Hephaestus cabins. The last two weren’t so fond of each other historically but I guess camp games really bring people together because I watched them help each other put on armor and choose weapons. Thinking about it, if Ares and Hephaestus were friends, they’d really be unstoppable as gods. No wonder their children work well together.

It took forever for me to find armor that fit. I was probably the smallest of any campers on my team and this armor was made for big buff greek warriors-to-be. Chroseus helped me find something that fit while the Hephaestus cabin head, Charles Beckendorf, looked for a weapon. This guy was intense, and very obviously a son of Hephestus. He’d look at me, approach to give me a sword, but then turn right around and say “No, not this one,” like a matchmaker finding me a date. By the time I had armor I still didn’t have something to defend myself. I lingered in the Hephaestus cabin entrance as Beckendorf rummaged around for what he claimed would be the “perfect fit” for someone my size. I would be offended by that remark but honestly he was way bigger than me so I couldn’t be mad. 

“Maybe if I had someone your size..” He said under his breath, sorting through a chest of weaponry by a mini forge. He stood up straight, “Heart? Trina!”

Something fell from the rafters and I jumped at the sudden CLANG. We both looked up and saw the figure in up there. The Hephaestus cabin ceiling had exposed rafters and nothing between those and the roof, so they had big nets tied up there to store things. Mostly failed weapons and armor, from what I saw, but a person was sitting up there too. I couldn’t see her very well until she hopped down to the main floor, where we stood.

“Sorry, sorry,” she picked up the faulty helmet that dropped. She practically shuddered in place. This kid- Trina? -must’ve been afraid of me because she avoided eye-contact and focused completely on Beckendorf.

“Small weapons,” he said simply, “for small people?”

I expected her to scuttle off to a chest and search like Beckendorf had, but instead she looked back up to the bad-weapon-and-armor-hammocks. Beck opened his mouth to object but Trina climbed up a support beam and back into a rejection hammock. A short pointy metal shower later she was back on our level with a funky looking gladius. Beckendorf spoke before I could get a good look at it.

“Heart,” he said, “I thought you said this was defective.”

“Defective as in. We can’t use it,” she faced him. “You and I can’t use it. But say, if a Demetre kid were to--”

“Is it safe? For their first battle?”

“Of course! Beyond safe. I think, it’s a- a perfect match. For their first battle at camp.”

Beckendorf looked at me, then the gladius, then me. He had the matchmaker vibe again. “Alright… I suppose,” he took the weapon from Trina and handed it to me by the blade. “We’re probably running late so this will have to do.

Beck looked doubtful but the gladius felt comfortable in my hands. The handle was wrapped in old leather and the hilt was wood. The blade was celestial bronze like most of the weapons made here. What was strange, though, was that there was oak wood marbled into the bronze. How the hell did Trina do that? Technique aside the blade sprouted a leaf as soon as I held it, and I felt something flowing through it, probably some nature magic coming from my nature magic god roots. Haha, roots. Because it was made from a tree. Ba-dum tsss.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Before long we were at the “team meeting,” I guess it was called. After Mr. D explained who was fighting everyone split off into two groups. Apollo, Hades, Ares and Hephaestus vs. Hermes, Athena, and Demeter. The Hades cabin only had me and Chro so the teams were still even. Beckendorf and Kharis were Apparently the two leaders during this game because they were laying out today’s strategy. I should have been listening but I was pretty distracted. Or rather, distracted by someone pretty. 

The Hermes, Athena, and Demeter cabins were assembled not too far away and I watched Celeste and Feya putting on their armor. Celeste was one of the few people who didn’t look like a doofus in her helmet, it kinda suited her. She was on the blue team so the blue accents to the armor matched her outfit for the day. The bronze sparkled in the sun and it made her pale skin look healthy and gold. She was helping Feya put on her armor, then glanced over and almost caught me staring. I looked away just in time.

“Does everyone understand?” Beckendorf asked the team. Everyone nodded and I acted like I listened. The two teams stepped further away and Chiron stood between them.

Chiron was a centaur, which means he was man on top and horse on bottom. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be if he was horse on top and man on bottom? By the gods. Anyways, he was the camp director, and he taught most of the classes. Mr. D. was “in charge,” but Chiron was actually respected by the campers. He blew the horn for games and meals. 

“Are the two teams ready?” He asked, and everyone cheered. He held his hand in the air and counted down on his fingers. 3… 2… 1…

BWOOOOOOOOM. The noise from the horn pierced the air and everyone ran into the woods. I followed, knowing nothing about this game except one thing: my team started on the left of the woods, so our flag was on the left. It would be easy to go left and stay by the flag with everyone else on the defense. I sprinted through a frenzy of bronze and arrows and weapons and curved left, hoping to loop around the fight and find my flag.

I separated myself from the fight but now I was lost. I forgot which way I was supposed to go. I mixed up my lefts and rights- god, this game must be so easy for the campers. They probably know these woods like the back of their hands. I heard the trees yell at me that I was going the wrong way, every living plant was trying to direct me. Left? Right? More to the right?? No, left!! It’s behind me? Oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods--

“Shh!!” I stop and cover my ears through my helmet. “Shut up!! I can’t understand everyone at once!” I didn’t mean to raise my voice but I must’ve gotten my point across because the woods quieted down immediately. The plants only whispered now, but because they were all so quiet I couldn’t understand them. 

I unsheath my gladius, realizing I never learned it’s name. Don’t people name their weapons? I assumed it’s maker had already named it so I don’t take the time to brainstorm. It’s not important anyways. The lines in the wood blade glowed green and gold. Like before, I felt energy running through me and into the gladius. I held it out in front of me.

“So, uh..” I feel so stupid. “Which way is the flag?”

I didn’t expect it to work but the weapon jerked me to the right and I spun around like a compass. 

“This way?” 

Something pulled the gladius forward and it almost slipped from my hands. Unless someone had tampered with Gaia, she had my back. I walked forward and trusted this weapon. This weapon from a scrap pile. Honestly, I think that suited me.

The woods weren’t whispering anymore, they were conversing calmly. I heard metal-on-metal clAngs and crAShes nearby, but never got close to them. My gladius kept me walking between the fights, like a landbridge over an ocean of hormones and personal grudges. Speaking of sand, the blue flag was planted on a sandbar by a stream. Oddly enough, it wasn’t guarded, at least not that I saw. I kept myself hidden in a bundle of underbrush before making a move.

You know in horror movies, when you watch the main character walk down a corridor and into an obvious trap set by the villian? I felt like the main character in that situation. Maybe the blue team planted landmines under the sand and I’d blow to bits any minute. Maybe it was quicksand! Despite all the idiot ideas my brain pulled out of the closet, nothing happened until I grabbed the flag.

FWOOSH. Something flew past my face.

“What?”  
FWOOSH. I step back and follow the noise. I saw arrows stuck in a tree.

I step back from the flag and raise my hands in surrender, the flag in one hand and my gladius in the other. “Wait! Don’t shoot, I’ll put it back--”

“HY-AA!!”

A blue camper flew out of the trees and knocked me down. We tumbled back and rolled into the stream. Thank god it wasn’t a river, because I ended up pinned to the ground with my hair drenched in water. On top of me were two striking eyes, dark hair, and snow white skin. A blue and white and grey flannel under bronze armor.

“Caught you!” Celeste cheered. On her back was a sling of arrows and a bow, she obviously shot those arrows at me. I’m too winded from the tumble to respond, I huffed and felt blood rush to my cheeks.

Celeste sat up, turning up her brows. “Are you okay? I didn’t hit you, did I? I thought I missed, I’m so--”

“HOMESTRETCH, INCOMING!!”

I felt a sting when her eyes left mine. She looked up and the joy returned to her face. After she plucked the flag from my hand and left, I sat up and looked towards the sand. Feya charged in holding the red flag, followed by campers from both teams. She leapt forward and landed a few feet from her flag, turning and holding up her prize. The blue campers cheered and a few red ones threw down helmets in defeat, others applauded. I stumbled to my feet and feel a hand take mine for support. Kharis’s sunny eyes watched me compose myself.

“Are you hurt?” He asked as I jerked my hand away. “It’s alright if you feel bad, this is your first game.”

“Even so, you got incredibly lucky,” Chroseus approached with his helmet under his arm. 

“Lucky because she..?” I trail off, blushing more. Had they seen that? If they were nearby, why didn’t they help?

“Lucky because you grabbed the flag on your first try,” Chro said, confused. He raised a brow, “What else happened?”

Thank the gods Chiron clopped in because I didn’t want to explain. He confirmed that the blue team won, that they’d have a later curfew, and that the red team would be cleaning tomorrow’s breakfast dishes. Chiron blew the horn so the leftover campers would gather up and return to camp for dinner, but a white glob hit him in the face.

I thought it was a snowball but there wasn't any snow on the ground to throw. Another one hit me, landing right on my head.

“What..?” I look up, and I saw that clouds had covered the sky. Snow started to fall and hit campers like bricks.

As everyone muttered in confusion, a bundle of snow hit Kharis, and he had a very different reaction. He made a choking sound and his eyes rolled back. Chroseus reached out to hold him before he even went limp, his body convulsing like he was being electrocuted, and he gasped for air.

“Oh my gods, Chiron! Chiron!!,” I pushed through some campers. “Kharis is having a--”

“Seizure,” he cut me off. Everyone likes interrupting me today. Although his voice showed concern, the centaur didn’t seem surprised. Chroseus came forward and held Kharis bridal style. He’d shaking but kept still twitching and breathing unsteadily. 

“Everyone to camp,” Chiron ordered, “Chroseus, Feyisetan, and Apollo campers to the big house. Everyone else, please seek shelter in your cabins, and stay there until the snow is gone. Be safe and stay in groups.”

Kharis rode on Chiron’s back, barely conscious enough to hold on and not fall. I think I was the only person actually worried about him, everyone whispered to each other about things completely unrelated. Visions and oracles- What the hell was wrong with them? Someone just had a seizure!! I don’t say anything about it and follow the group back to camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a week at band camp then came home and had a foot-related injury at my dad's house so sorry for the slow update, this chapter is extra long to make up for it. Chapter 6 is also in progress.


	6. Literally No One Tells Me Anything

I wanted to sneak into the big house and stay with Chro and Kharis but I stay in the Hades cabin alone. I hung my armor on a dummy and slung my gladius on a coat hook by my bed. What a weird weapon, but I kinda like how quirky it is. I turned around to go to bed and immediately got jumpscared instead.

“Oh, god,” I jump. The Hephaestus girl- Trina? -stood in front of me. “You’re not a--”

“How was it?” She asks. Her tone almost sounded desperate.

“How was what?”

“Leaf,” she said. “The- the gladius.”

“Oh. It worked… fine?” I didn’t use it in combat so I don’t know what to say. “It lead me to the flag.”

“Did you connect with it?”

“What? I guess.” What drugs was she on?

The lighting kinda sucked but now I could see Trina’s face, whereas when I met her she avoided looking at me. Even now she looked around me, or at my freckles or twigs or my bed behind me. Trina had short hair that was pale pink at the roots and faded to a red auburn at the ends, and she had a side-shave in a similar color. Unfortunately you could tell she was a Hephaestus kid. You know how Heph was thrown off a cliff because he was ugly? I’m not saying Trina iwa ugly! That’s rude! I’m just saying. She definitely inherited her father’s… Facial likeness. But Trina was not ugly because happy and she was grinning like I’d given her 100 bucks.

“So it worked!” She balled her gloved hands into fists. “You can keep it! I can’t use it. It reacts to you. But…” Her smile turned to a confused frown. “You’re in the Hades cabin.”

“Because theres no Persephone cabin.” Despite her disjointed speech pattern I knew what she meant. “Persephone is my mom, Hades is my step-dad.”

“Oooh… That makes sense.” She nodded, “I know step-parents.”

“Aphrodite?”

Trina was quiet. As soon as I thought of apologizing, she held out a hand. “My name’s Trina Love. You can call me either one.”

“Nice to meet you..” I shook her hand. All the Hephaestus kids had hands like baseball mitts. “I’m Cecil Parker. Uh, thanks for the gladius.. Did you call it Leaf?”

“I mean, that’s just a placeholder,” she fiddled with her hands and pulled at frayed seam at the end of her glove. “It’s yours now. Whatever you think it’s name is, that’s it.”

No offense but Leaf is a lame name. I don’t say that aloud. I nod, “I’ll think about it then.”

Trina shifts her weight between her feet, “Right.. I gotta go. Before I get in trouble.”

And with that she turned and left. I frown, a little offended that she didn’t say goodbye. But also, if she knew all the things I’d been thinking during our conversation’ she’d be offended too. I steal a set of clothes from Chroseus’s supply and lay in bed. Yeah, I was starving for dinner, but I was also exhausted from capture the flag and my run-in with Celeste. Dreams pulled me away as soon as I closed my eyes. I was glad to escape the world for a while.  
\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Chiron didn’t gather us that evening, instead he called us to breakfast in the morning like everything was normal. The camp had weather magic preventing bad weather but there were still snowbanks lining the cabins, despite the sun being hotter than usual. By now I’d figured out how the seating situation worked. Chroseus sat at the Apollo table with Feyisetan and Chiron so I sat alone, picking at my food. The image of Kharis convulsing and trembling chased away my appetite. At his table he had a blanket draped over his shoulders and he talked with his half-siblings in discussion like he hadn’t had a serious seizure less that 20 hours before now. Was this just something that happened? Maybe he had epilepsy and the snow triggered it. Snow falling can be kinda trippy. But also, if it were as simple as that, Feya and Chro and Chiron wouldn’t be in a hush-hush football huddle with the Apollo cabin

“You don’t have to worry about him.”

I jumped in my seat, then noticed Celeste sitting across from me. How long had she been there? She laughed and took a sip of her drink, “You’re so skittish. It’s just me.”

“Sorry..” I sit up straight, “Aren’t you not allowed to sit here? I thought that was the rule.”

“Pssht, I’m an unclaimed Hermes camper. I don’t listen to rules.”

That’s not really how things work but alright. No one came over to stop her so I didn’t snitch and cause trouble, then she’d probably hate me. Celeste leaned over the table and lowered her voice, “Do you know what’s causing the weather?”

I frowned. “What? Why would I know that?”

“Because when Persephone was driving you here she threw you into a river and something took her. Where’d she go?”

“How did-”

“Poseidon told us through his kid now Please Answer Me.”

I shrank in my seat. That day was maybe over a week ago and I’d gotten a minor concussion. My memory was bad when I didn’t have brain damage so that day was such a blur now. I sipped some water and cleared my throat, the thought of my mom made my mouth dry.

“I saw… Something. Before she disappeared. It was like a face in a blizzard.”

“Just a face? A floating head? That makes no sense.”

“I-I don’t know Celeste. A lot happened that day and I’ve avoided trying to remember. It’s..” I itch my eye, “It’s a little scary. How everything is playing out. I don’t know where Persephone is.”

Celeste’s expression turned from annoyed to sympathetic. Yeah, Celeste, sorry that I’m probably an orphan with memory loss and that I can’t help unravel whatever mystery you’re trying to solve.

“I forgot that part.” She sat up in her seat, “I’m sorry. I’m asking because Kharis had a premonition last night.”

“A what?” I cock my head to the side, “He had a seizure last night.”

“Yeah. And when he has a vision of the future, it causes a seizure.”

Celeste, how the hell would I know that. I glance over at the Apollo table. “Do all Apollo kids have seizures? That sounds. Bad.”

“No, just him. His mom is-”

“Attention, campers,” Chiron stood. His horse-half unfolded out of his wheelchair like a jack-in-the-box. “Any planned events today will be canceled, classes will continue. The Apollo campers are excused from class. That will be all.”

The centaur left the dining hall. Chroseus looked towards my table and then back down at his.

“We gotta know what he saw,” Celeste stood with her food. Most of the campers were leaving too, probably to prepare in classes or slack off in their cabins.

“Um, how?” I stood too, a little too quickly because my legs hit the table. “Wouldn’t just walking up and asking be kinda rude?”

“I have a feeling I know where he’ll be tonight.” The unclaimed demigod tapped her thumb on her tray. “I’ll talk to you. See ya later, okay? Take care.” Without another word, Celeste turned and left after scraping her remaining breakfast into the fire. I did the same but stood to watch the other campers for a minute. If there’s anything I’m good at, it’s observation, because I hate talking to people.

Feya rushed to Celeste after she left my table and they walked in the directions of the cabins. The Apollo table stayed put. Kharis was drinking his 3rd glass of water and his half-siblings were stuck to his side like a gang of bodyguards. Chroseus sat with them when Chiron was talking, but now he wasn’t. His spot was empty. 

Fun fact about us Underworld kids: most of us have some degree of control over the river Styx and Lethe. We can drive boats across them and use them to travel faster than one could imagine. Chroseus, being the son of Charon, used this ability frequently, so I have no idea where he was, even though I wanted to talk to him. I trudged off to the Hades cabin, feeling someone’s eyes on me. I didn’t bother to look and see who’s they were.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

I’d been there a week and I still wasn’t signed up for any classes, so most of the day I either slept or drank water or sunbathed to practice photosynthesis. I was sitting at the back end of the Hades cabin, taking in the sun as it shrank under the hills, when Trina interrupted me.

“Pssst.”

“Hm?” I opened my eyes.

“It’s Trina,” she whispered behind me. “Come on.”

“Come on to where?” I stood and turned, Trina was maybe a foot away from me.

“The big house. With Celeste and Chro,” she linked arms with me and started to walk. My instinct told me to resist because why would I go anywhere with them? But then I remembered they were kinda my friends. And Celeste said she knew where Kharis would be during the evening- she must’ve meant the big house.

“Does everyone here give short, context-exclusive answers? Or is it just you and Celeste?”

Trina blushed. “No. It’s just us two.”

Celeste and Chroseus were chatting when we stepped outside. Despite the cabin technically having no walls, I hadn’t heard them before now. 

“I’m telling you, Celeste, I don’t know any details,” Chroseus had his arms crossed. “We’re about to find out in like 2 minutes so chill out.”

Celeste bit a popsicle stick, visibly irritated. “But you were there for the discussion! You have to remember something valuable. Double check for me.”

“Double check my memory..?”

I clear my throat. They both look to us.

“Cecil.” Chro smiled at me, visibly glad to be out of that conversation. “Good, I think that’s everyone.”

“No Feya?” I asked.

“No Feya. She’s making sure no staff is around to catch us,” Celeste nodded proudly. “The Hermes cabin started a riot to occupy them.”

She was the only 1 out of the 4 that wasn’t bothered by the casual nature of that statement. “Right. Occupy them while we… Do what, exactly? I wasn’t told anything about whatever we’re doing.”

“Kharis is visiting the Oracle. And we are spying on him,” Trina said. “To hear the prophecy. Since he had his seizure yesterday.”

As we started walking to the big house, Chroseus and Celeste walked in front and me and Trina walked in back. Chro corrected her. “Cecil and I are spying on him. You and Celeste are keeping watch at the door.”

“What?” Celeste frowned at him, “Why do you get to be there?”

“I was there after the seizure.”

“I caused the distraction that let us spy in the first place!”

I whisper to Trina, “They don’t seem to get along.”

“They do not,” she confirmed, “But they are efficient. Great minds hate each other.”

I don’t think that’s the saying but I didn’t correct her. As we neared the big house Celeste and Chro bickered quietly, stopping at the same time as we stood on the porch. 

“Stay,” Chro said as if Celeste and Trina were dogs. “If the staff come by, talk to them until we give a signal.”

“And they won’t come by,” Celeste chided.

“Oh my god Celeste put away your personal agenda for 2 seconds.”

“Na pas sto diaolo.”

“Gladly.” Chro placed his hand on my shoulder and ruffled my ginger hair. “Ready, Snapdragon?”

“Sure. Sure.” I had no idea what we were doing. 

Chroseus and I stepped inside and immediately met the eyes of the literal sun. Kharis had climbed 2 steps into the attic, the front door opening must’ve startled him because his eyes were the size of a dinner plate.

“Why is Cecil here?” He asked, “You said-”

“I know what I said,” Chro held my hand as we approached. “but she’s..”

“If Celeste was supposed to come, I’ll turn back.” I removed my hand and stepped back, “This seems like too much for me to handle.”

“No!” Kharis shook his head urgently, “I didn’t mean that! You can come. I… Want you to come. I..” He seemed indecisive. “I’d rather you come. And not Chroseus. Come on,” he reached out for my hand.

Chroseus raised a brow but didn’t object. He nodded me forward, but having known him for so long, I know he was bitter about Kharis’s preferance. I take the tall boy’s hand.

“So, since no one’s told me, what exactly up there?” I stare up the staircase. Haha, starecase. “It seems super important and no one’s filled me in. Despite me being so involved against my will.”

Khrais looked at me sympathetically, “I’m sorry Cecil. I’m sorry you’ve had to come here during such an unstable time.” We walked up the stairs together, taking our time so Kharis could find the key on his keychain. Or maybe it was Chiron’s. “In this attic is an ancient spirit from ancient Greece. When a camper is sent on a quest, they visit her to hear their prophecy.”

“If you were sent up here, isn’t it your quest?” I blink, “Shouldn’t you go alone?”

Kharis’s eyes glowed in the dark hallway, and his keys jingled. “Do you remember that seizure I had? I have those when I see the future. You were involved, so I want you to hear the prophecy with me. It feels important that you do.”

“You’re an Apollo kid, Apollo is the prophecy god, yeah yeah yeah,” I nod along. “But do your half-siblings have seizures too? Or just you?”

He held one key on the keychain and the others slid down the big metal loop. Jingle jingle jingle. “You’re just as nosy as Celeste, I think.”

I shrank in place. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. You need to be told things, I just.. Don’t. Like. Ugh..” He sighed and his grip on my hand tightened. 

“The spirit in this attic is that of my mother. Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not following my guideline but it's fine for the sake of plot pacing
> 
> there are character sheets for cecil, celeste, feya and kharis on my artfight & instagram (both are biblegoblins) but they contain spoilers for future chapters & books, especially feya & celeste's. view at your own discretion


	7. I Meet Kharis's Mom

The attic was dark, the sun was too low to shine through the windows. A faint glow hung around Kharis that provided enough light to barely make out the room. The were shelves of disturbing specimen and monster parts which my intrusive thoughts immediately linked to pickled veggies. The thought of someone eating a gorgon heart like a radish was truly sickening. Monster heads hung on the walls, glaring down at us as if they’d come alive and eat us. Each step we took tossed dust up into the air and it swirled around our feet like mist. Kharis’s grip on my hand tightened.

“Afraid of the dark?” I asked in a hush voice, not wanting to wake up a monster head.

He adjusts his bow, “There are two things I cannot stand. Darkness and family affairs.” 

Kharis stared blankly at a figure sitting on a stool, silhouetted by a large window. I say figure, but I mean corpse. A shriveled-up husk of an ancient woman slouched in place, her last stringy hairs hanging in front of her face. Two dark chasms took the place of her eye sockets and her jaw hung open exposing whatever rotten teeth she had left. Despite this corpse clearly being centuries old, she didn’t smell like it. The only thing that bothered my nose was the dust. I heard an automatic air freshener go fsst somewhere. Kharis looked incredibly tense.

“If it means anything, you bare no family resemblance,” I whispered to him. He laughed quietly, but it was still a very bright sound. Mission accomplished.

A green mist oozed out from the corpse’s mouth, pouring onto the floor and surrounding our feet. It kinda clung around me and avoided Kharis, which made sense considering our parentage. A pillar of green formed in front of us and shifted colors. Kinda green kinda yellow kinda orange. 

“Cecil.. Parker…” It moaned like a ghost in a low-budget horror movie. Kharis looked confused.

“Mother?” He raised a brow, “Yes this is Cecil. But this prophecy is for me- Mother, look at me when I speak to you.”

I was too late to stop him and Kharis stepped forward and waved his hand through the mist. Upon his touch the green stuff shined gold and a figure formed. She looked like the corpse in the chair but when she was alive. 

“Cecil Parker!” She repeated, gasping for air.

“Hi,” I waved. Kharis crossed his arms.

“Oh!” The woman blinked, embarrassed. “Kharis..! I am sorry, I was-”

“Distracted,” he finished for her. I decide to cut the tension in the air. I don’t think Kharis liked his mom very much.

“Uh, hi Mrs. Oracle of Delphi,” I said. “I think you have a prophecy for Kharis. I’m here for, uuuuh, support.”

“Oh no no no,” Mrs. Oracle of Delphi- Wait. Her name’s Pythia. She shook her head. “If that were so he would’ve seen it himself.”

“I did!” Kharis said defensively. “I had a premonition. It’s just.. Choppy..”

“Because this is not your quest,” Pythia said apologetically. “But you are involved, my son. Apollo kept the future hidden for a reason.”

Kharis looked salty, and I can understand why. Now both his parents were working behind his back and not telling him the whole truth. Personally, I’m used to that, but I have a different relationship with my parents than most of the campers.

“So.. What’s the prophecy?” I asked, letting Kharis sulk. “And why is it for me? I’ve only been here, like, a week.”

Obviously Pythia couldn’t answer the last part of that question. The mist changed to a moss green, and Pythia’s image aged and rotted until it resembled her corpse. It floated backwards and faded into her body. Her voice hissed in our ears. 

“You will step forth and state the season's end  
Those under ice will obey your command  
The Lethe will take a drop of sun  
Into hell will fall the twisted one 

Trust not the crow who flies a dove  
Beware of the sky and weather above  
Your parents will guide you or lead you astray  
What matters to you will be taken away.”

I immediately had issues with this prophecy. “Hold on, what do you mean-”

Before I could even ask the green mist slinked back up into Pythia’s body.

“Hey! You can’t- Come back here! Mother!!” Kharis grabbed at the last of the mist, which slipped through his hands like fog. The floor was clear of green and the room was dark again, minus Kharis’s glow.

I heard him curse under his breath. “Guide or lead you astray? Our parents are being anything but helpful!” He kicked at dust on the wooden floor.

“Hey, hey,” I take his hand, “Chill out. You’re not usually like this.. Uh, as far as I know.”

The tall blonde quickly calmed down. His anger subsided and he ran his free hand through his hair. He looked more concerned than upset.

“My job is to know things.” That seemed to be his motto. “My mother is an oracle, my father is the god of prophecy. They hold knowledge that people expect me to have- they hide things from me. If should’ve thought twice before having a child.”

“Yeah, sleeping with your employees is kinda messed up,” I agree. He looked at me funny.

“Does Persephone have employees?”

“What? Oh! I mean she has nymphs and assistants but I was talking about Hades. I have a half brother, his mom is one of the Underworld workers.”

“Aah..” Kharis nodded and smiled, sympathetic. I guess everyone knows that working down under is, quite literally, hell. We exit the attic to talk to the others, assuming they were still there. 

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

“So Cecil has a quest?”

Chroseus sharpened a bident, the whetstone creating sparks that flew out and died in the night. Kharis leaned on the porch railing next to him, Trina and I sat in chairs and Celeste stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light indoors.

“I think it has to do with Persephone’s disappearance. And that… Thing that probably took her,” I said. “Pythia said-”

“We don’t call her by name!” Trina blurted. “She’s not.. P-Y-T-H-I-A, she’s just the Oracle.” She whispered to me, “For Kharis’s sake, he doesn’t like his mom.”

“Ah sorry,” I nodded. “The Oracle talked about the Underworld- Hades probably took my mom early and that’s why its winter so soon.”

“But that’s the thing, Cecil. Why would he kidnap Persephone while she’s driving back him?” Chroseus shook his head, “Hades is an impatient king but I’m not sure that’s correct.”

“Well what do you think it could be?” I stood. “Either way I have to go home.”

Trina quietly noted, “To Ohio?”

“No. To the Underworld. Py- the Oracle said so. And-and-and! She said Kharis was involved,” I step over and take his hand. “So he’s coming with me.”

“Damn right I am!” He agreed. Probably in spite of his parents for not telling him the whole truth of this quest, but I appreciated the support anyways.

“I’m coming too.” Celeste stepped onto the porch as if she were the center of attention, “You’ll need some Hermes charm to sneak into the Underworld. And yes I’m not a confirmed child of Hermes but I’ve lived with them so long I know how to protect my stuff and fight back when I’m getting mugged so I’m going with you!”

“Then- then me too!!” Trina stood too quickly and her chair tilted back, hitting the porch wall. The sound made her jump like a Halloween cat. “Ah! I’m sorry!”

“Uh…” Kharis leaned down and set his chin on my head, hands folded underneath. “Out of curiosity, why do you want to come? You’re not one for.. Conflicts, Trina. Are you sure you’d be comfortable?” He spoke kindly, almost like a mom.

“Um.. uh.. I guess..” Trina stumbled over her words. “I-I think it’s because.. Yes! It’s because I’ve never been. Out of camp. Yes, that’s why.”

She nodded to try to convince us but it didn’t work.

“Trina, you’re really good at making things,” I said. “You could make a shelter if we end up on the streets. And I owe you for making Leaf.”

“You kept the name?”

“Yeah I think it suits him.”

“So that’s uuuh.” Celeste counts on her fingers. “We have 4 on this quest. Chroseus?” The whole group looks to him. “You comin’?”

The tall demigod looked up from his bident. “... No. I don’t think I am.”

“What?” I blinked, a little hurt. “Why not? Chro, you and I know the Underworld like the back of our hands. You should come with us.”

“No, I’m needed here,” he stood up straight. “The weather is getting worse, the campers are afraid, I think having a counselor here will help keep things under control while you’re gone. And someone has to represent the Underworld at camp.”

I frowned and Kharis stood up straight. “If that is what you think… I agree,” he said. “Perhaps it’s best to keep the group relatively small. The trip to the Underworld will be long and risky. We might lose someone if we have 5.”

“Have 5 for what?”

Everyone flinched at the familiar voice. Chiron stood on the grass down the porch stairs, arms crossed. Instead of one of us coming up with a useful and impressive excuse, I stupidly blurted out. 

“I SNUCK UP ON KHARIS WHEN HE WAS SEEING HIS MOM-SLASH-THE-ORACLE AND TURNS OUT THE PROPHECY WAS FOR ME ANYWAYS AND MY FRIENDS WERE ONLY HERE BECAUSE WE WERE MISSING FOR A WHILE AND WE’RE TOTALLY NOT GOING ON THIS QUEST AND LEAVING CHROSEUS BEHIND WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.”

There was a moment of silence. Celeste clapped slowly, “Nice.”

I expected Chiron to order us to return to our cabins and not come out for 5 years, but he didn’t. He didn’t shoot us all through the chest with his bow and arrows, either. He glanced at the five of us and settled on Chroseus. He nodded, and then Chiron bowed his head. “Would you like to leave now or in the morning?”

“What?” Celeste blinked.

“The prophecy was for Cecil, meaning this quest is for them. The last time a hero was kept from their quest…” The minotaur looked to Chroseus, who shifted in place. Chiron uncrossed his arms and stepped out of the way of the stairs. “I will say it again- would you like to leave now or in the morning?”

Celese, Kharis, Trina and I exchanged looks. “I mean, now is good for me.”


	8. I'm Gonna Go Blind If I Meet Anymore Of Apollo's Family, They're Too Bright, Okay?

Shortly after I’d woken up at camp, the satyrs found my mom’s abandoned car with all my luggage. I hadn’t unpacked at all so I didn’t need to do much to prepare for this quest; A bag for clothes, a bag for food and anything else I wanted, my gladius in it’s sheath around my waist- the end. A few satyrs reluctantly made a dozen sandwiches for us all to take along with nectar and ambrosia squares. Also a juice box I found in my other bags.

Kharis and I met at my cabin and we hit up the Hermes cabin to grab Celeste. Instead of being packed, her unconfirmed half-siblings had swarmed her, some congratulating her and others begging her to stay.

“Sorry, Hermes kin,” I said stepping into the cabin. “We’re gonna have to take her off your hands.”

“Oh?” Celeste crossed her legs, sat on a top bunk. She smirked down at me. “And where will you be stealing me away to? On what adventure are we embarking, Cecil Parker?”

I didn’t expect her to answer. I stammered over a response I didn’t have. “I-- I mean, I didn’t-- we’re just--”

“Ohohoho, Celeste. Leave them be,” Kharis rescued me from the sea of eyes that stared at us. “The sooner you’re packed, the sooner you’ll know the nature of this adventure. Now please, hurry u-- Feyisetan!!” Kharis jolted up like he’d been electrocuted. Feya looked up from a suitcase that was probably Celeste’s, half full of arrows and bottles.

“You have something to tell Cecil,” he said.

“What? I never told you abo--”

“Outside! I will help Celeste pack!” The glowing demigod hurried over, “Cecil step outside, it is important that you know what she says.”

Feya stood, a bit stiff. She walked out of the cabin with her eyes to the ground and I followed. Either she was extending an olive branch to begin a new friendship or I was about to be assassinated. I didn’t want to know which one before it happened.

“Cecil Parker? That’s your name?” She asked in a small voice.

“Uuh, yeah,” I nodded. “We’ve met already.”

“Yes yes I know,” she huffed. Feya’s energy was nervous and defensive at the same time. She shifted her weight between her feet and looked around at the dark forest, at the sky, at the other cabins. “I need you to deliver this to Kero when you reach the underworld. You’ll have no problem reaching him, since you’re his.. Sibling.”

She handed me an envelope, closed with a warm silver-purple wax seal that shimmered just like her hair.

“I’m sorry,” I look between the seal and her. They shifted light in the same way. “You know each other? I think Celeste should hold this, Hermes is the god of--”

“Messengers. Yes. But Celeste is not Hermes’s daughter,” she cut me off, “and she is nosy. She might read it..”

I read too many comic books, this scenario felt very familiar. If this letter was what I thought it was then I was, then Kero had some explaining to do.

“I won’t read it,” I slide it into my gladius’s sheath pocket. “Promise.”

Feya seemed to relax. She thanked me and we returned to the cabin. Most of the Hermes kids went back to bed, snoring in their pajamas and blankets. Celeste had a bag for clothes and a sling of arrows, her bow slung across her back. She picked up her suitcase and off we went to the Hephaestus cabin.

“Are you sure you don’t need my gloves?”

“They are too big.”

“Yeah but you can’t just.." Yaawn… "grab it with your hands.”

“Yes I can. You’ve seen me do it.”

“That was regular fire, Heart.”

The light of the forge outlines their silhouetted in the dark night air. A really tall person and a really short person. Charles Beckendorf and Trina Heart, packing her bags, being overseen by the head of the cabin. 

“Knock knock,” I leaned through the entrance. The shift in my perspective let me see the light shine off their faces. Beckendorf looked to me, tired as Hades. Trina kept her head down over her bag.

“Almost done here,” he said. “She has to pack some equipment from storage.”

“Alright.” I nod, wondering how Beckendorf felt about little Trina going on this quest. Had she ever been on a quest? She said she was coming so she could see what the world is like outside camp but it was obvious that she had an ulterior motive. She wouldn’t need equipment if she was just going sightseeing. 

Rattle rattle rattle. “I’m ready to go!”

Me, Kharis and Celeste turned our heads. Trina held a single grocery bag. 

“Are you sure about that?” I raised a brow.

“What do you mean? Oh.” She raised her bag, “I invented this. The bag is bottomless- I have everything I need because there is unlimited space.”

Celeste and I both looked very confused, but Kharis nodded in support. “Very efficient, Trina. Now how did Chiron say we will be leaving? Do we have an escort out of camp?”

“We have Selene,” Celeste said, picking dirt out of her nails. “We have a 2 hour ride on the moon chariot and she drops us wherever.”

“Um.. Mom told me the Helios and Selene faded away a long time ago,” I blinked. “Apollo drives the sun now and the moon kinda.. Chases him, I guess. Since Artemis is just hunting.”

“... Must we contact Apollo for a ride?” Kharis asked in a stiff tone. “Surely there is another way. Mr. D. has a car.”

“Cars are slower, and he can’t leave camp,” Trina shook her head. “The sun chariot is efficient and you are Apollo’s sun. He might not charge us for a ride.”

Despite his heavenly glow, Kharis didn’t look happy. Celeste was pretty bummed about Selene apparently not existing. What a great way to start the quest of my life. With 3 strangers who are disappointed. Well, Trina wasn’t upset.

“If we must ask Apollo for help, I don’t suggest sending an iris message,” Kharis stated. “He is still driving the chariot. If he’s distracted, he may crash and burn the earth to a crisp.”

“Wouldn’t have the winter problem after that, would we?” Celeste snickered. Kharis rolled his eyes.

“If we all pray at the same time, he’ll probably notice us.” Kharis looked around, then his eyes settled on the Apollo cabin. “We can settle on the grass in front of his… sacred ground,” he muttered the last part. 

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

“Flattery tends to work on Apollo. If you pray about how great he is and how grateful we’d be--”

“Please don’t inflate his ego,” Kharis interrupted before Celeste could convince us any further. “It’s already the size of the sun.”

There we were, sat in a circle on the dewey ground. Speaking of the sun, I could barely see the outline of the forest as the sky began to glow.

“We might actually catch him en route! How lucky,” I bowed my head and cleared my thoughts. 

Oh god Apollo, I said in my thoughts, please aid us in beginning our quest. Your son is on our side so you should totally do him a favor because Pythia- I MEAN the Oracle really let him down today. I think he’s upset that you two aren’t showing him the whole future even though you both have prophetic abilities so he’s like, prophetic^2. I think getting from closure from you would make him feel better. He’s doing his best.

I kept rambling on and on and on in my prayer, time flew by. When I finally shut up there was light shining through my eyelids.

“Huh?” I open them, squinting at daylight. “The heck? Did I--”

“Nope,” Celeste said, staring somewhere else. “None of us fell asleep.”

I noticed the blue sky and kids on the grass. Blonde kids, all in pajamas, with incredible skin and beautiful faces. They stared in the same direction as Celeste, so I turned my head.

Standing in front of our little circle was the embodiment of the sun. Like his kids- Blonde hair, tanned olive skin, and two drops of sunshine for irises. Behind him was a shining Chevy Impala, black but also glowing like the sun. Probably because it was the sun.

Apollo smiled at us and it almost blinded me. “I heard you kids needed a ride,” he flipped his hair and leaned against the Chevy. “Anyone got gas money?”


	9. Hitching A Ride And Then Crashing Said Ride

Obviously no one had gas money, but the sun didn’t run on gas. Scientifically it was made of gas- or plasma, technically -and it had a nuclear core that continuously exploded in on itself. I figured that must be how the chariot’s engine worked. If Apollo had to stop at a gas station every 45 miles, the gods would have no earth to rule. 

The chariot had red leather seats and gold detailing for things like the cup holders or door handles. The floor and ceiling was simple black but it shined and shifted gold, like solar flares had been laced into the fabric. This being Apollo’ car, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were so. There was a driver’s and shotgun’s seats up front by the windshield, then two rows of passenger’s in the back. Kharis sat next to Apollo as he drove us across the sky, likely discussing the prophecy, or throwing shade for not telling him enough detail of the quest through his seizure. Celeste sat in the very back with me and Trina sat in the middle, using the spare seat as a table to lay out scraps of metal and blueprints. 

“So… what’s his angle?” I quietly asked Celeste, “Why’s he sitting up there? Kharis didn’t even want a ride from Apollo.”

“Beats me,” she shrugged. “Probably trying to get some insight on what’s to come, since the Oracle’s prophecies are always shoddy. Or they’re not talking at all. I can’t hear ‘em.”

The side of Kharis’s face poked out from his seat. He must’ve been talking to Apollo a little, or talking at him. Apollo’s hands moved and gestured on the steering wheel. Either they were arguing or they were bonding. Maybe both at once..?

“Tell me about Persephone,” Celeste shifted in her seat to face me. “Tell me about your folks, you’re the first kid I’ve met with two of them.”

“Uuh, first off, we’re the same age,” I said. “Second.. Well. Let me think.”

The car as quiet for a moment. A bird THWAPed against the window and we both laughed.

“Alright, so. Persephone is my mom and she’s pretty stoic. She does things to show that she loves and cares about you but in a really blunt and straightforward about it. She’s incredibly beautiful-- She has vitiligo, do you know what that is? She’s got white patches all over. Oh! And she has vines in her hair.”

“Like your little leaves?” She reached over and tapped a leaf on my head. I blushed.

“Yes, but. I obviously don’t have vitiligo. Because my dad was just white.”

“Who was your dad?”

“Orpheus.”

“Really! You sing? You a poet?” 

“Hah! No, not at all,” I shook my head. “I don’t have any of his talent. Probably because he’s been dead forever.”

Celeste crossed her legs, leaning her head on the seat. “If he’s dead, how’d Perephone meet him to have you?”

“Mmm…” I bit my lip in thought. How would I explain this? Uh- so, the Underworld is divided up in rings. There’s Tarturus, for monsters and stuff, where titans are banished. Then there are rings for dead people, they have many names and many uses, and then there’s the center. Most people say Orpheus was killed by a frenzy of naiads but he actually drowned himself in the river styx, and Persephone convinced Hades to let him chill in Elysium, which is the 2nd furthest ring. He and Persephone had book club so they kept in touch for centuries.”

Celeste pursed her lips, “Were you born or spawned?”

“Spawned, I think. One winter they were hanging out and Orpheus sang a song soooo beautiful it reached the tree roots in the overworld and they delivered me to Hades’s castle in a wooden basket.” 

“Faaancy,” Celeste mused. “But also strange. Knowing so many details about your conception.”

“Persephone told me the story as a kid,” I said. “As I said, she’s very straightforward. No filter.”

Celeste snickered, and I blushed. I was glad that I was entertaining her. “What about you?” I sit criss-cross and face her in the passenger’s seat, “I know you don’t know your god parent, but what about your mortal family?”

Her happy expression faded in a heartbeat. She retained a small smile but turned away and sat in the seat properly. “I dunno, mate. I’ve always been an orphan.”

“Oh?” Ah damnit. “I’m sorry for asking, if it’s a sensitive topic.”

“Mmm.. Not really, it’s just not something I talk about all the time, y’know?” She leaned her head back. “Technically not an orphan because I have an immortal god mom or dad, but I guess. Disowned. A wayward kid. Whoever my mortal parent is or was, they’re not in this country, ‘cause I’m an immigrant. I had a brother--”

Another bird hit the chariot, but this time the THWAP was more of a THUNK and it shakes the car. Because I’m so small I got tossed backwards and my head hits the window. My brain teleported me back to last week. My head feels fuzzy.

“Lots of birds up here!” Celeste joked as she readjusted herself. Smoothing out her iconic flannel, she looked at me with a worried expression. “Hey, you okay? Did you hit your head? I packed aspirin.”

“Nah, I…” Was it always this hard to breathe? Maybe it was the high altitude. I caught my breath, my lungs finally decided to cooperate. “Just startled me.” Upon sitting up, I saw Trina in the seat in front of me, picking her metal gadgets off the floor.

“You’ve already noticed, but we’ve been experiencing some turbulence,” Kharis said to us. “We’re far enough away from camp so we should be landing so--”

THWAP. THUNK. THUNK. The car shook and I flew 3 inches out of my seat, then landed on the car floor. Celeste pressed her arms to the seats to stay put, “What in Hades is that!? It can’t just be birds!”

“Pardon. Could you open theeeee-- the top window?” Trina asks, but instead of waiting for a responde she climbed into the front seat section and pressed the button.

“Hey, get back there! Where’s your seatbelt?” Apollo was too late to push her back. Trina stood in her seat with her torso out of the skylight window, armed with a hatchet.

“AAH, HECK!!” 

She screamed and swung at whatever was around the chariot, the end of her weapon getting stuck in the ceiling. There was a demonic scream and I saw dust fall past the window. Celeste ducked because the hatchet tip landed inches from her head, “Watch it!!”

“FURIES!” She pulled her hatchet out of the car ceiling and swung around, “Furies attacking the car!!”

“Everyone remain calm, stay in the damn car! And buckle up, why haven’t you been buckled up!?” Apollo told us to be calm but he was very obviously not calm. “Car safety 101! Furies can’t damage the car.”

“Uuh, I see smoke, pal,” I looked out the back window and black smoke flew behind us.

“Hey Sunflower, put your feet up for me,” Celeste was preparing her bow. I got in my seat and prop my feet up too so my knees were against my chest. Celeste opened her window and a frenzy of claws and skin immediately reached in to tear her apart. Thank the gods she leaned back in time, pressing against my knees for support and getting just the right angle to fire 3 arrows at the fury. Because the arrows were tipped with celestial bronze, they turned the fury to dust instantly. She sat forward and rolled the window back up, “Thanks!”

There was clunking against my window. Was it smart for me to try and kill a fury? No. Because 1, I’ve had little training against monsters, and 2, furies are servants of Hades, meaning if I hurt them I might have to explain to my step-dad. But also he stole my mom, Trina had closed the ceiling window, and Kharis was helping steer the now crashing chariot. I had no choice but to pull my weight.

I shakily unsheath Leaf and send a prayer to Ares, even if he was an asshole. I roll down the window and the fury stuck its head in, screaming at me. It’s breath smelled like death, since it was busy screaming at me I stabbed my gladius through it’s mouth and it dissolved instantly, dust flying through the window. I roll it up as Kharis crawled into the back seat with Trina.

“So bad news! We’ll be crashing.”

“The sun is going to crash into the earth!?” Trina panicked.

“Not literally! Not the sun, just the chariot representing the sun.” He spread out his arms and covered the 3 of us, “Stay together. Everything will be fine because we’re crashing head fir--”

BOOOM.

The earth explodes beneath us.


	10. Gorgon Hunting, Kinda

As I opened my eyes, I felt something lifting me up, and I squirmed to escape it’s grasp. 

“Hold it Sunflower,” Apollo said as he lifted me from the tree. “You’ll fall if you keep movin’.”

I surveyed our surroundings, still hanging upside down in Apollo’s hand. The chariot was stuck in a crater, now in the form of an actual chariot rather than a car. Kharis and Celeste were putting out fires in the trees the best they could and Trina was nowhere to be seen. Upon turning my head, I saw her on Apollo’s back. The sun god put me on the ground and the blood drained from my head. I lean against a tree for support, “Is.. the luggage okay? We packed nectar, right?”

“Two steps ahead of you.” Kharis tossed me a canteen that sounded almost empty, they must’ve had some before me. It was fine that they didn’t leave much for me because too much nectar is bad for you. I downed the rest of the nectar and felt my energy return. Now that I could see clearly, I saw just how bad the crash was.

“Is the chariot okay?” I asked.

“The furies broke the main axis,” Trina said, “so if we tried to fly again we wouldn’t be able to steer.”

“So either we’d fly into space or crash again.”

“Correct.” Trina reached over and grabbed fire off a burning tree branch. 

“By the gods,” Apollo cursed, “I told you kids to stay in your seats. They woulda left us alone.”

“Do you know how furies work?” Kharis asked bluntly. “Furies are sent from the Underworld and they serve Hades.”

“I know that!”

“Sure. Then you also know that they were after Cecil, because they are Hades’s step-kid and they should be downstairs for the winter.”

“... No.”

“Then no, as long as Cecil was in the car, they would not have left us alone,” Kharis gestured to me. “Now, how do we fix the chariot?”

“Fix it?” Celeste sat on a big rock. “You think we can do that?”

“We can’t let the sun stay in the sky forever. And we have Trina, who already knows what's broken.” 

“What do you think?” I look up at the auburn girl.

“Mmm…” She shrunk in place, hiding behind Apollo’s head. “It is possible. But it is difficult.”

“You demigods are resourceful,” Apollo set her down. I could tell he was trying to sound nice but given the situation he was obviously kinda pissed. “Go n’ figure something out. But be careful, this is gorgon territory.”

Trina perked up at that statement. I can’t see why, because gorgons are terrifying, but to each their own I guess. 

“Alright,” Kharis tossed his pink coat onto a tree branch. Celeste decided on a direction and we wandered aimlessly through the woods

.- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

“Let’s play would you rather.”

“Oh gods please no--”

“I’ll start. Would you rather be baked into a cake or melted into syrup.”

“Syrup.”

“Syrup.”

“By the gods please stop.”

“Syrup also. Kharis?”

“....”

“....”

“.... Cake.”

So the quest was going great. The crash didn’t hurt much of the forest, thank the gods. Trina filled us in on her repair ideas while Celeste tried to pass the time with group games like “would you rather.”

“Apollo said there are gorgons around here,” Trina explained, “so I think we could get one to turn a tree trunk to stone. Then we could use it to replace the chariot’s broken axis.”

“How would we weld the axis to the chariot?”

Trina held up her hand, which was on fire. The rest of us jumped back in surprise and Celeste guarded me from the flame. Plant + fire = nonononono.

“Very clever Trina, but please use caution and be kind to our floral friends,” Kharis said in support.

“Of course! Of course,” she beat her hand against her plaid shorts, “Totally cautious. Let’s find a-”

“SHHHHHHHH.”

I covered Trina’s mouth and Celeste covered Kharis’s as we shushed them in sync. What perfect timing, because we were now standing at the edge of a clearing where a single gorgon slept on some rocks. The snakes on her head snored and it sounded like water hitting a hot pan. Sss. Ssss-ss.. Ssss.

“Gorgon,” Trina whispered the rest of her sentence. 

“What do we do?” We all turn to her, since this was her plan.

“Uh! Uh..” She guided us away from the clearing so we could stop whispering. “Cecil, can you tip a tree over?”

I made the >:/ face in thought. “I mean…” I looked around us- a tree falling here would make too much noise, the gorgon would wake up. I unsheathed leaf and stepped away from the group, turning my back to them. “I can try- give me a sec.”

I knelt down and shoved the gladius into the ground, feeling energy from the surrounding roots surge into me. Was this how a mushroom feels? It’s roots connected to surrounding fungi, like a hivemind or a spiderweb. Everything connected. I focused myself away from us, moving through the root systems and hyphae until I settled on a loose set of roots. The trunk wasn’t super thick either so it wouldn’t be too loud.

Adios, arbol. I thought. Far away, the roots give way and there’s a distant crash, birds flying out of the trees. Looking over my shoulder, the gorgon was still snoozing.

“Impressive!” Kharis exclaimed.

“Very good work, Snapdragon,” Celeste slapped me in the back which pulled me out of the root. 

“Hhhh, thanks…” I stand and remove Leaf from the ground, “I had no idea whether or not it would work.”

Trina swung her hatchet around in her wrist and it turned into a saw. “Kharis, can you help me get the trunk?”

“Sure!” He nodded enthusiastically. As far as I’d seen, the Apollo kids don’t get to do much heavy lifting at camp, they mostly sang and entertained after dinner. After making me repeat directions lik 3 times, they disappeared into the woods to grab the tree.

“You think this will actually work?” Celeste asked, already climbing a tree.

“I do. Trina’s super smart… I think?” I hadn’t known her long. I start climbing up after her, branches leaning down for me to reach. “You seem to like heights.”

“The higher the better! I like having a good view, especially around water.”

“But we’re not around water,” I stood on a branch next to her’s, our heads sticking out the top of the canopy. She thought over my statement, then pointed.

“There’s a pond over there,” she stated proudly. “Wouldn’tve known that if we weren’t up here. Case and point: heights are great.”

“Sure.” I hesitantly glanced at me feet, where the topsoil seemed miles away. Being short, just climbing ladders freaked me out. I’m 4’11, I can’t imagine being 5’2. Do tall people breathe better air? Oh god the air is better up here. Before I got dizzy, I asked something else to distract me. “Not a fan of water?”

“Nah..” She bit her lip, looking to the side, towards the tree that I let fall. “Think they’re gonna be able to carry it?”

“Think you’re gonna keep dodging the subject?” 

She frowned, “Rude. Some people just have aguaphobia.”

“Aquaphobia.”

“Same thing. I think.” She tilted her head, “Yeah.”

I leaned against the tree, still not convinced. However I don’t like when people try to make me talk about touchy subjects, so I decided to let it slide. Even though Celeste would’ve kept prying.

A little while later we spotted Kharis and Trina returning with the trunk. I stepped off my branch and the tree moved its limbs to make stairs for me. Celeste climbed down after me.

“We’re here!” Kharis announced, holding one end of the trunk with ease. Trina struggled to keep up with him on the other end, being much shorter and slower.

“What now, Einstein?” I asked the redhead, taking her end of the stump so she could catch her breath.

“Is the.. Hhh….. Is the gorgon still there?” She huffed, hands on her knees. She looked for herself before we answered, “Okay okay. Who wants to hold the trunk in front of it?”

No one volunteered. A cricket chirped. 

“Come on!” She frowned, “One of us has to hold it. We’ll pounce on her back and hold her head up so she turns the trunk into stone. Then we’ll cut her head off, for safekeeping.”

“Do we have to keep the head?” Kharis winced, looking squeamish. “I can’t imagine what we’d need it for.”

“I mean, would you rather have an angry gorgon chase us back to Apollo’s chariot?” I asked him. He paled and shook his head.

“I’ll hold the trunk up,” Celeste offered, “but if I get turned to stone and my godly parent gets mad it’s your funeral.”

“I can hold it’s head up,” Kharis said, “but I’m not cutting it off.”

“No worries. I’ll cut it off.” Trina tossed her hatched up and down, catching it by the handle. 

I kinda felt bad about not volunteering, so I chimed in. “I’ll help hold the trunk, just in case Celeste turns to stone.”

“Hey!” She scoffed, “I won’t!”

.- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Celeste climbed a tree to hold the top of the trunk while I supported the bottom. Trina and Kharis stood off to the side, ready to make their move when we were. Trina made it very clear that Celeste and I could NOT look out from behind the trunk until we heard her cut the head. And even then, she’d give a sign that it was safe, because a gorgon head could still petrify us after death. 

I kept my head angled down, studying my grey sneakers. I heard Kharis’s footsteps even though he’d taken off his shoes to avoid waking up the gorgon. Step.. step.. Step.. HISSSS!! The gorgon screamed like a banshee. Either Kharis was just turned into a life-sized garden gnome or he’d pulled her head back to look at the tree trunk. I got the answer when the tree bark beneath my fingers turned cold and rough. I almost let go out of the trunk out of surprise since my dumb self forgot it’d turn to stone. Celeste must’ve had the same reaction because the trunk wobbled and I had to hug it so it didn’t crush the gorgon and, possibly, Kharis. 

I hear a wet CHORP. 

“Coast is clear!”

“Epic,” Celeste jumped out of the tree without warning me and the trunk tipped forward.

“SCATTER!!” I couldn’t support it all on my own. The stone trunk hit the ground it sounded like what I imagined would be an earthquake. The rocky ground beneath me trembled and I fell back, seeing birds flocking out of trees and screaming. Celeste stood to the left and Kharis and Trina were to the right, none of them hurt. Celeste looked paler than usual.

“Celeste,” Kharis said breathlessly, “that was extremely reckless.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for almost crushing the head!?” Trina was strangely riled up, “You better be sorry!!” She hopped over the trunk and checked- the head was intact but some of the snakes were squashed under the tree.

“Why’s it so important to you?” Celeste asked in defense, “The Oracle didn’t say anything about it, what do you need it for?”

Trina didn’t respond. She cut the dead snakes with a pocket knife and picked it up. At the same time all 3 of us dove away, avoiding it’s eyes.

“Trina! That was dangerous!!” Kharis said in a bush.

“It’s fine now.” I watched Trina grumble as she closed the head’s eyes, tossing it in her bottomless grocery bag. Her hair shined like fire. “Let’s go back to the chariot, this is all we needed.”

No one asked, but I wondered if she meant the head or the trunk.  
\


	11. Small Intermission feat. Sunflowers

Apollo helped us carry the new chariot axis back to the crash site. Trina had calmed down, she’d actually shrunk into herself since her outburst. Grabbing fire of the branches, she welded the new axis to the chariot with her bare hands. Honestly Hephaestus kids are probably the coolest demigods I know. Charles Beckendorf? He could break me in half. I wondered if he’s been on any quests. Apollo, Kharis, Celeste and I hung out away from Trina so she could work in peace.

“So Perse’s gone missing,” Apollo mourned. “That would explain all the snow- It’s not even September yet.”

“Exactly. But I really don’t think the weather is Demeter’s fault,” I sat on a log with Celeste. “If that were the case she’d know where my mom is, I think.”

“Maybe she just assumed Persephone left early?” Celeste tapped her lip. “And so she’s more depressed than usual.”

“Nah,” I stood. “Something took her. As in, a monster or a creature.”

“Think it could be from Tarturus?” Apollo stroked his chin, “If you think Hades took her then that’d be your best bet, seein’ as he has open access down in the Underworld.”

Kharis was making a friendship bracelet on a keychain hooked on his finger, “Thats the jist of it. And seeing as Hades has sent furies after us he may be onto our quest. We need to move quickly, before he sends us to the Underworld by… Other means.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Had the possibility of death not crossed their minds before now? Oof. Apollo crossed his arms, “You kids have caused me a lotta trouble. After the chariot’s up n’ running I’m dropping you off in New York n’ no further. The sun is way off course now- I’d love to help, but mortals in the west are probably oversleeping.”

“Right…” I nod, “I’m sorry Apollo. If I’d known Hades was after me we would’ve walked.”

“And get mauled in the street by the same furies? I don’t think so,” Kharis crossed his head. “The chariot kept us from being ripped apart. It’s fixed, anyways.”

“But the paint job!” Apollo whined. Kharis rolled his eyes and picked his coat off the branch it hung on, “I’m checking on Trina. She should be done by now.” The tall sunflower walked away, leaving me Celeste and Apollo in an AA meeting circle. 

Celeste swung her legs around on the branch she sat on. “I have a vague idea, but why’s he so… I dunno…”

“... hostile towards you,” I finish for you. Apollo buffed his nails on his pleather jacket, a hint of shame in his eyes.

“Naturally, having children with your followers is pretty frowned upon.. Unless you’re Zeus I guess.”

Celeste snickered.

“The spirit of Pythia moves from maiden to maiden,” Apollo continued, “and the most recent was Kharis’s mother. But my own mother, Leto, wasn’t very happy about that.” The god likely knew we’d see where he was going, so he ended the anecdote there.

“So the oracle in the attic…”

“Inhabits that body now,” he said bluntly. I nodded. “On top of that, his prophetic abilities- unlike me or Pythia he only sees parts of the future. And he expects us to fill in the gaps for him, but--”

“Heroes always avoid the future,” I cut in. “In an attempt to avoid it?”

Apollo looked at me. He picked his shades off his shirt collar, putting them on before he blinded me. “Yeah. Exactly.”

Celeste and I look at each other. I thought we were thinking the same thing, but I was way off.

“Hey Apollo?” She looked down at the god from her branch. “Can you tell me something?”

He raised his head and cocked an eyebrow. “Huh? I mean, it depends. What do you wanna know?”

“Who’s my godly parent?”

“Oh yeah, no. Can’t say.”

“What!” She leaped off her branch, landing in front of the god. “Why not? It won’t hurt to know.”

Apollo sat up, biting his lip. “Halfbloods are claimed when their godly parent is ready to claim ‘em, kid. If your mom or dad doesn’t wanna be associated with you that’s outta my control. If I were to out them I’d be in big trouble.”

Celeste’s face was turning red. Something was hidden behind her frustration, “So it’s ‘cus they’re embarrassed to have me as their kid?”

“That’s not what he said,” I corrected.

“That's what he implied,” she turned towards me and gestured. “Honestly that doesn’t seem too low of the gods. Letting their kid go one as an orphan to protect their reputation. To avoid being associated with mistakes like us.”

“Cool your jets, Stormy,” Apollo stood and pat her head, which Celeste didn’t appreciate. “Every god’s got their own agenda, sometimes there’s no room for kids. Imagine if you had no money to support a child, but suddenly you were pregnant. What would you do?”

Celeste balled her fisits. I know she got the point, but she pretended not to, keeping her anger balled up in her chest. She lowered her head and mumbled under her breath, “Don’t have kids if you don’t have money.”

.- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Trina had successfully fastened the new axis to the chariot. Apollo pulled out his car keys and pressed a button, and the chariot glowed brighter than a star. Celeste and I had to look away but I guess Trina and Kharis weren’t bothered by the blinding light of the sun itself. When it died down, the black Impala with red interior was parked in the ditch it crashed in.

“Oh, baby!!” The god draped himself over his car. “Don’t worry now, daddy’s got you!”

“Jesus…” Kharis laid his coat over my shoulders, “Wherever you’re dropping us off, we need to get there sooner than later. Summer is fading faster with the sun here.”

“Y’know Kharis, you n’ Artemis are too similar,” Apollo stood and leaned against the car. 

“I’d rather be like her than you,” he nodded. “Vamanos.”

Like that, everyone was in the car. Me in my previous seat, Trina up front with Apollo, Celeste in the middle and me and Kharis in the back. The chariot hovered above it’s crater and then flew back into the stratosphere. Naturally the real sun is in space, but imagine the chariot is riding on a conveyor belt around earth. That metaphorical belt turns the world around so everyone gets light when they need it. That probably isn’t how it actually works but that’s how I imagine it. 

“Sunflowers?” Kharis’s voice poked through my daydream.

“Huh?” I looked over at him. He was staring at my head.

“You grew sunflowers!” His hand hovered near my sprouts, not actually touching them, because Kharis had a thing for boundaries and mutual respect. “They’re pretty.”

“Uuh, y-yeah. That happens sometimes.” I wondered what shade of red my face was. 

“Does your mother have something like this?” He retreated his hand to buckle his seatbelt, “Tell me about her.”

It had been a while since I’d seen my mom. Picturing her in my head caused a wave of comfort to wash over me. “She does,” I nodded, “but they’re not just sprouts. She grows vines in her hair, and they have flowers too. Mostly lilies, but they change based on her mood.”

“Like yours!” Kharis grinned. “That’s so cute.”

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet. Celeste snored laying sideways in the middle row, Kharis and I looked out the windows at the world below. When Apollo dropped us off we were somewhere else in New York. I honestly thought Apollo was being lazy since we weren’t even in a different state, but I guess not wanting to be attacked by furies again is a valid argument. He helped us unload our luggage on the sidewalk like a chauffeur assisting his tourists. 

“You kids find Perse fast, okay?” He closed the trunk and hopped into the driver’s seat, “There’s no spring or summer without her. Hades is awful selfish to be keepin’ her early like this.”

“We will,” Celeste nodded proudly. Apollo was about to take off when Kharis approached the shotgun window.

“You should visit camp sometime soon,” he said bluntly. “Say hello to your children.”

Apollo wore a slightly pained expression. I could understand where Kharis was coming from- an olympian busts into camp at 2 in the morning and doesn’t bother to greet his kids before leaving again. They say their goodbyes and the chariot glowed and disappeared.

“What now?” Trina asked, looking up at the clear sky. “It’s about noon. Where do we go?”

I surveyed the area. Apollo dropped us off in a quiet and barren neighborhood. The buildings were mostly abandoned, but they weren’t totally rundown. Newly abandoned.

“I think we should squat somewhere and sit tight.” I pick up the bags at my feet, “Change clothes. Eat. Take a rest, I guess.”

“After the furies, I think that sounds nice,” Celeste yawned. She was still sleepy from her nap, “I need somewhere to lie down ASAP.”


	12. I Play Hide And Seek With Two Disembodied Hands

The building we chose was probably the worst in the neighborhood. This was on purpose, because Celeste if the police are checking for squatters, they’re more likely to search the nicer ones. Nicer in relativity- every building had broken windows and plants crawling up the walls. I liked that though! So many plants, so many friends. Our particular building used to be grand, the architecture was super fancy, but over time the wallpaper greyed and the floors grew holes. I was surprised we didn’t run into a racoon or other critter.

We unrolled our sleeping bags in the corner of a past dining room. Now the furniture was gone and none of the lights worked, I only knew it was a dining room because the kitchen was to the left of us. Fire was kinda dangerous, but Trina used her helmet as a bucket to keep it contained. She snapped her fingers over some twigs we found and FWOOSH! The flame was lit.

“Alright then!!” Celeste stretched out on her sleeping bag. “I’m taking a nap, wake me when the monsters show up.” She yawned and twisted one more time before settling in her position, fluffy black hair obscuring her face. “Gooood niiiiiiiiiiight...:”

Kharis chuckled. None of us spoke until we heard Celeste snoring

“I’m gonna explore a little,” I tried not to make the floors creak as I stood. “I’ll be back… uuuh, probably by nighttime.”

“You shouldn’t go alone. Allow me to accompany you.” Kharis had been kneeling and he unfolded his legs to stand.  _ Without  _ using his hands. I’d only seen ninjas (Hermes kids) do that! 

Trina was fiddling with a metal spider, taking it apart to examine it’s insides. “I think I’ll, I’ll just stay here.” She eyed the corridors that lead out of the room.

“Not a fan of the dark?” I guessed, and she nodded. I’m 90% sure she could snap her fingers and hold onto a flame but I didn’t mention that.

“Very smart Trina,” Kharis smiled warmly. “Leaving a sleeping demigod alone is like leaving bait for monsters.”

I hadn’t considered that! We waved goodbye and wandered off together. 

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

“What is Artemis like?”  
  


Kharis looked down at me. I figured it was a good icebreaker. The room was dark, so he shined light from his right hand and rested his left on my shoulder. We’d passed through many old rooms- one had kid’s arts and crafts supplies, one was filled with empty boxes and abandoned luggage.

“She is… my aunt, but she’s like the mother I never had,” he spoke dreamily. “Notably she’s 12, but--

“Artemis is 12!?”

“Not literally!” Kharis laughed, which lit up the room even more. “She takes the form of a 12 year old because her hunters are so young. She’s very old and very wise, like the rest of the gods.”

“Except Apollo.”

“Yes, precisely.” He swiped a cobweb away from his face, “She’s the leader of the hunters so it’s natural that she’d have maternal skills. She’s the patron of maidens so obviously she doesn’t have her own kids, but if she did somehow, she’d be a good mom.”

“She’s the mom of the hunters,” I nodded. “Makes sense.”

Kharis chuckled as we passed through an archway, out of the hall and into another room. A cold wind blew against us and suddenly Kharis’s light went out.

“Ah!!” I flinched at the sudden darkness. “Kharis? What happened?”

No reply. The floor creaks under something else wandering around, the distant noise echoing through the building. Before the light went out, I could see that this “room” was actually a crossroads between halls, leaving me 3 choices. Straight, right, or left.

“Kharis?” I reached around in the dark, taking careful steps. My hand landed on a wall- well, I bumped into the wall and steadied myself with the wall. Once I was stable I held Leaf out in front in front of me, removing it from it’s sheath. The celestial bronze emitted a faint glow. 

“Convenient,” I muttered. Very convenient, in fact, because there was a gaping hole in the floor ahead of me. If I hadn’t stopped to check I would’ve broken a bone. 

Turning around in a circle I confirmed that Kharis wasn’t with me. Order of events: light goes out, I pull out Leaf, almost fall through the floor, Kharis is gone.

“Hellooo?” I called down the hallway. The only answer was an echo of my own voice, but a little… twisted? It was deeper, but at the same time, more shrill.

I stuck Leaf down the hole in the floor to check for dangers, then climbed down carefully. This floor looked like a party venue, it had huge floor-to-ceiling windows that let light shine into the room. And despite the amount of light shining behind me, it was still dark and hard to see. It couldn’tve been night time already- we were gone for 10 minutes at most! There was a broken down piano on an elevated platform in the corner and a few scattered chairs. The wallpaper was pretty, but it depicted dead flowers, and so did every painting in the room. As the child of spring, it ran a chill down my spine. As I stared at the paintings and ratty furniture a shadow passed over the wall, startling me again.

“Who’s there!?” I jumped and spun around, holding Leaf defensively, but no one was there. All I saw was my reflection in the massive windows.

“Okay, what the  _ hell? _ ” I felt fear and anxiety begin to crush my lungs. “Who’s there!? Quit messing with me!”

_ Ehehehehe! _

A shrill voice rang through the air. It circled around me like a breeze, sending shivers down my spine. 

“Wh-who’s..?”

A hand popped out of the hall to my right. It wiggled it’s fingers at me and the voice laughed again.

“Aah!!” I jump forward and slash down on the hand, but it disappears as I pass into the shadowed area. It was a narrow path. The floor had given way around the wood that I stood on. I could either go forward to a ladder that lead up into an attic or I could move back into the room I was in. Whatever was messing with me probably knew where Kharis was- hell, it probably separated us in the first place! So I pressed onward.

Celeste would probably love this area. Weak wooden floorboards suspended me over an abandoned ballroom. When I made it to the other landing I half expected the floor to crumble and eliminate my only safe way back to my group. I climbed the ladder into a dark and dusty room. This was probably an attic or crawlspace, actually. I dust off my shirt and spin in a circle. Leaf’s light eventually landed on the clown who got me lost.

A shadow stuck to the wall despite my sword’s glow, like something invisible stood in front of me. The light passed through it’s eyes and mouth and it grinned at me on the wall.

_ Ohoho, lucky me!  
_ _ A newly lost son of Persephone!  
_ _ Dolos is sad, alone all day.  
_ __ Won’t you stay with me and play?

I felt two hands clasp my shoulders. I kept my eyes on the shadow, afraid to look away in case it ran away.

“I’m not her son,” I corrected. “I’m her child. What are you? Where is my friend?”

The hands moved up and caressed my face, playing with my hair.

_ Spirit of mischief named Dolos is here  
_ _ Your friend is right by your side, my dear  
_ _ But why should Dolos let you see?  
_ __ Is there something in it for me?

“Are you always going to speak in rhymes.”

_ Your attitude is sour like limes!!  _ The shadow sticks its tongue out. 

I shook my head, knocking the hands away. “I’m broke! I don’t have money, you don’t eat food. We’re on an important quest. My mom is missing.”

_ Winter is coming, Persephone gone  
_ _ Dolos misses when the days were long… _

The spirit pouted and thought for a moment.

_ Tell you what! Stay here with me.  
_ _ Warm in the winter and safe, you see! _

“I’m leaving,” I glared. “Where is Kharis.”

Dolos growled at me.  _ No! _

I lunged and swiped my gladius at the shadow. Dolos’s shadow slipped away as the light shifted with my movement. He laughed at me and I stopped my feet in frustration. What the hell did I get us into! We couldn’t leave without Kharis. Who’s to say Dolos hasn’t messed with Trina and Celeste already.

“Fine!!” I sheathed Leaf reluctantly. “I’ll play a game with you.”

_ Yipee!! Yahoo!! _

I could sense Dolos dancing around the room.

_ What will Dolos play with you? _

Now it was my turn to think. I had to fool Dolos, the spirit of mischief himself. Thankfully I was quite the trickster myself. This plan might just work.

“Hide and seek,” I felt Dolos’s hands hold mine. “With one rule.”

_ Rules are no fun!  
_ _ But… Dolos will allow one. _

“No hiding in boxes,” I said. “I don’t wanna go through the trouble of looking through  _ all  _ of those empty boxes.”

Dolos chuckled in the darkness. Hook, line, and sinker.

_ You will hide first! I count to 10  
_ _ I will find you and it’s my turn, then. _

“Deal.” 

Dolos’s hands shook mine. I left the attic, feeling confident in the prank I was about to pull.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Dolos must’ve been a slow counter. I had time to find the arts and crafts room I saw with Kharis and find duct tape to use later. I hid under a table in an otherwise empty room, I decided an easy victory would boost his ego enough for him to break our one rule. I wondered how much time has passed. There was a window, but it didn’t provide much light. This wouldn’t bother Dolos, seeing as he was a literal shadow. 

Despite his lack of form I heard the floors creaking under careful footsteps. Once he came close I felt two cold hands pounce onto my shoulders. Even though I expected it, it startled me and I almost hit my head on the table.

_ Ahahahaha! Dolos has won!  
_ _ Child, 0; Dolos, 1! _

“Ahaha, yeah..” I tried to sound like I was having fun but it felt like I was wasting time. Kharis was still lost. Also, that rhyme  _ sucked. _ “You hide now. I’ll give you extra time since you found me.”

Dolos giggled mischievously and his shadow swam away. I didn’t even count for that long because, if the gods were on my side, I knew exactly where he’d hide. I retrace my steps through dozens of empty rooms, trying to remember where I’d been with Kharis before he disappeared. Soon I found the abandoned arts and crafts room, which lead to the room with luggage and boxes. Before taking a step through the doorway, I looked over each box from a distance, looking for Dolos’s white hands.

One box, fancy looking but old and stained, resting on a chair. Ornate gold details lined the sides, loopy-loops dancing along the bottom. Two cardboard flaps covered the open end, held in place by two white hands with gold-painted nails. Dolos’s fingers peeked out of the top.

I carefully unraveled my duct tape. This plan worked under the assumption that Dolos wouldn’t be able to escape a sealed box, even though he is a literal shadow and the room is super dark. I creep towards the box, the floorboards creaking ever so slightly under my feet. Dolos’s fingers wiggled and I hastily stepped around the box so he’d think I passed him. Then I turned around, holding the strip of duct tape over the cracked-open box, and…!

_ AAAAAH!!  
_ _ CHEATER!! CHEATER!!!  
_ __ LEMON EATER!!

“That would be cannibalism!” I struggled to hold the box still as I wrapped it in more tape, “I can’t eat fruits or veggies if I’m part plant!”

_ AAAH!! Dolos will give you whatever you want!!  
_ _ Set him free and trick you he shan’t!! I promise!! _

“Save it,” I hissed. “Give me back my friend and maybe I won’t let Trina burn you alive!”

_ Alright!! _

I heard a  _ woosh  _ down the hall where I lost Kharis, but I waited for proof. Something bumped into a wall nearby and I heard Kharis’s voice.

“Cecil? What.. where are you? Cecil!”

I almost called back but I decided it was best if he didn’t know about Dolos. I dropped the ground and he yelped. “If you mess with any of us again, I’ll burn you alive in this very box.”

Dolos had no answer, he only whimpered helplessly and struggled, shaking the box around. I ran out of the room to give Kharis the biggest hug I’ve ever given.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

“Oof!!”

Kharis almost fell over when I jumped into his arms. He leaned against the wall for support and held me tightly once he realized it was me. “Cecil, my goodness! I thought I lost you, what happened? There was this wind, but there are no windows around--”

“We just got lost,” I cut him off to keep things simple. “I wandered off and lost you.”

“I see…” He patted my head. “Well I’m glad you found your way, Cecil. What time is it?” He covered his mouth to yawn, “I’m very tired.. I don’t remember being so sleepy when we started.”

“It’s night time now,” I loosened my hug. “We should get back to Trina and Celeste and sleep, and at something. So we can get out of here tomorrow. This building is freaky.”

The tall blonde nodded, “Alright. But first… What do these flowers mean?”

I reached up and carefully plucked a flower from my sprout. It was blue; an aconite. 

“I don’t know,” I lied and tried to look calm, but the thought of Dolos’s annoying trick made my blood boil and another flower grew. We retraced our steps and returned to our little camp, where Celeste and Trina had stayed behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howdy! bc i have school and a job I don't have as much time to write. To make up for it I made this chapter super long and I have a speedpaint of cecil uploaded on YT, and trina's character ref coming on instagram. here is the link to the speedpaint and my insta is biblegoblins if you want to see future art of the quartet 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYiZnXa58g&feature=youtu.be


	13. Calling Home

_I could smell the flowers even from behind the fence. We had a big yard, Mama grew lots of tasty fruits and vegetables for dinner. It was after school, my grey uniform was stiff and damp from the previous rain shower. At least I was hydrated._

_Someone ran out of the alley next to our house and bashed my face in with a bat. It felt like rubber, but I fell backwards regardless. Rather than hitting pavement I fell into a puddle, which turned into an ocean, and I was suddenly underwater. I’d fallen into a river earlier in the week, but unlike then, I panicked and thrashed. Saltwater stung my eyes. Somehow the water burned like acid, it was a familiar sensation. My scream was muffled by the water._

_“Cecil! Darling, I’m here!_

_I told you not to swim in the river!”_

_Two soft hands pulled me from the water and wrapped me in a towel. I found myself pressed against Persephone’s chest, crying like a baby._

_“It’s alright, darling. Please listen to me next time- the Styx is very dangerous.”_

_Persephone dried my hair and wiped droplets off my leaves, holding me close. This was a memory from my childhood, but here I was, a 15 year old on some silly quest to find her. My legs give out and I fell into her lap._

_Maybe this was a special dream. Demigods sometimes saw the future in their dreams, but if this was a memory, I doubted this gave me any insight into the future. I was just a lost kid having a lucid midnight breakdown in my sleep. I could only think of one thing to say while my mom held me._

_“I miss you so much.”_

_“Cecil?”_

_“Cecil..”_

_“Ce_ cil!!”

You know when you’re trying to sleep and you feel like you’re falling and then you suddenly hit the ground? That happened. I jolted awake and half sit up, holding an arm in front of me in defense. But it was only Trina, who shook me awake. She stared at me sympathetically, her hand still on my shoulder.

“You were crying,” she said in a low voice. “And you grew roses...”

Sure enough, there were deep red petals falling on my lap as the roses died away. I turned away and wiped my face with my blanket. 

“‘M fine,” I said, though it was muffled. “It was j-just a dream..”

Trina sat back down on her patch of blankets. A small fire burned in the middle of us 4, though it was dying down now. “You miss Persephone.”

As I sat up, I nodded. “I didn’t realize it until now. I’ve just been… Pushing through everything since I woke up at camp.”

The apprentice blacksmith pulled at a lock of her fiery hair, thinking over her words before speaking. “Do you really… Hate the camp? Why?”

I was going to say exactly why- because kids at that camp are unloved by their parents -but my mouth went bone dry as I opened it. I swallowed my vendetta and cleared my throat, “W-well.. As uh, as a kid I figured the day I went to camp was the day my mom would leave me forever, a-and of course. I didn’t want that.”

Trina stared through me, a frown forming on her face. She blew an ember away from her face. “Y’know, some kids never knew their moms.”

“I know,” I shrunk in place, feeling like a complete _κώλος_. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I…” Whatever negativity she held washed away and she practically deflated. “I know how you meant it. I miss my dad like you miss Persephone.”

“Heeee-phaestus?” I almost said Hades on instinct. “You lived with him?”

“Uh.. Kinda.” She smoothed out her blankets, suddenly bashful. “I lived in. Mt. Saint Helens, in his workshop. I was an apprentice.”

“Really!? But like-” I pause to gather my thoughts, “How? You’re so young. For a blacksmith, I mean. Of course, you’re the best blacksmith I know- and I’m super thankful for Leaf.” And then a thought occurred to me and I tilted my head in thought. “Why were you at camp if you lived with your dad?”

Trina rubbed her cheek like it was sore, “It’s complicated. It’s… A long. Story.”

I had a feeling I knew, or at least had a vague idea, of why she was at camp. I reached over and placed my hand on hers. She flinched at first, but relaxed and rubbed my palm with her thumb. 

“You can tell me when you want,” I said, “if you want to at all. Let’s go back to sleep.”

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Celeste had stolen borrowed some food from the nearby Subway and returned to us, 6 inch subs in hand.

“Why not a footlong?” I asked. “Then we could’ve cut them in half and saved some for later.”

“Oh boy. Wish I’d thought of that when I was dodging the soda cups being thrown at me as I sprinted out the door,” she mused dramatically. I blushed and ate my sandwich. Hadn’t thought of that.

“Anyways. Cecil, my great hero,” she laid on her sleeping bag next to me. “Where exactly are we going?”

“Uuh, Ohio, I guess?” I blushed. I’d forgotten that this was my quest and not one of theirs. “There’s an entrance to the Underworld there, Persephone opened it herself. That’s where we were going before we got struck by that snow storm.” Speaking of which, it was snowing outside. I slid a shawl over my head.

Trina Heart sat atop our pile of luggage. We had a lot of bags- mostly thanks to me -which we then stored in Trina’s neverending sack. Satchel? Sack. The only bags we carried independently were the Offical Camp Halfblood Hero’s Questing Backpack™s. They had stuff like ambrosia, nectar, water bottles, sharpeners for weapons (and pencils), and so on. Very useful.

“Why don’t we just take the train?” The blacksmith asked while cleaning her nails. She woke up early and packed before us.

“Uuuuuuh… Because we’ll die?” That was as blunt as I could get. “At least, you guys would for sure, I might be fine.” I was supposed to be in Hades anyways.

“Well. Regardless of how we’re getting to Ohio and whether or not we’re dying, I had a thought.” She sat up and started packing up her stuff like the rest of us. “I wanna speak to another oracle.”

I picked any veggies and leaves out of my sandwich because if I eat plants that makes me a cannibal. “Why? And more importantly, how?”

“Why, because I don’t trust Pythia, and neither does Kharis. She’s old as dust and her prophecy didn’t even make that much sense.”

“Speaking of prophecy!!” Kharis rushed out of the room to my right, now fully dressed for adventure. He held a yellow sheet of lined paper, “I wrote down everything I remember from my seizure.”

Trina took it before I could and scanned it briefly. Uninterested, she passed it to me.

_Crows water flowers Empire State Building lyre monsters Chroseus_

“And something occurred to me,” Kharis continued. “There’s a line in the prophecy- you can see it there, I wrote it under the list -‘Trust not the crow that flies above.’ Well, for short, we call Chroseus just ‘Chro’ most of the time.”

“And those words sound the same,” Trina nodded, picking dirt out of her nails. “But he didn’t come on this quest. Maybe he knows something and didn’t tell us.”

Celeste and I rolled up our sleeping bags. She picked dust and lint out of her hair, “If the prophecy says not to trust a crow, maybe we shouldn’t trust Chro. Just saying.”

I frowned at her, a little offended on behalf of my absent friend. I knew it was foolish to doubt her speculation but that wouldn’t stop me from being salty. “Chroseus wanted to stay at camp to hold down the fort,” I looked to Kharis. “He’s probably looking after your cabin right now. And…” I bit my tongue. I was going a little to far with that.

“And what, Cecil?” Kharis blinked at me with an unreadable expression.

“Apollo is associated with crows, right?”

His face shifted. He wasn’t offended, thank the gods. “Perhaps.”

“Here’s my proposal,” Celeste rolled her sleeping bag to Trina’s luggage throne. “Let’s make some housecalls. Send an iris message to Chro at camp, see if he knows of any oracles in New York, or descendants of oracles. Demi-oracles?”

“You’re saying ‘oracles’ so much it barely sounds like a word.”

“You right. Anyways, Cecil can call their brother and check if it's okay to use the train. If not he can send a fury to pick us up.”

“If Hades sends monsters after us they’ll only want to take Cecil,” Kharis frowned. “We would be stranded or killed.”

“Whatever gets us to the Underworld, right?” She grinned mischievously. “The end justifies the means.”

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

There are a few ways to get to the Underworld. 1: dying. That was out of the question. 2: find the closest door. There are lots of them, but some don’t work or they change location, it’s annoying. 3: the train. I guess Hermes lost a bet to Hades back in the day because now he had a part-time job overseeing a cryptic train that lead directly to Hades. It’s typically reserved for events where lots of people die in a short period of time (and by short I mean like a century.) Examples include but are not limited to plagues, wars, and natural disasters.

I knew Kero took the train to and from the Underworld because he was the prince down there. The train was like a protection thing for him; Hades had lots of enemies who would love to have his son’s head on a silver platter. Personally, I’d never taken the train. I wasn’t sure if my mom or I could summon it at all. I guess it didn’t matter since I was making a call to my brother anyways.

First things first: we needed a rainbow. Our solution for this was questionable but no one got hurt so it’s fine. In summary, I had to dig up a plumbing pipe and Trina busted it with her hatchet, allowing water to _SPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT_ out in a fine mist. This could have gone wrong in many ways, but it didn’t. As long as the mortal who owned the property stayed asleep and didn’t have a surveillance system we were completely safe.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." I toss a gold drachma into the shining mist, “Show me Chroseus.”

Chro doesn’t have a last name and for a moment I wasn’t sure if it’d work, but the mist turned into a frame for Chroseus’s headshot. He was in the infirmary, tending to a camper I didn’t know. Everyone around him was bundled in blankets and had noses redder than Rudolph. He only noticed the iris message until an Apollo camper dismissed him. When he turned and faced us I saw his left ear looked frostbitten.

 _“Ω, σκατά,”_ I blurted. “Chro, what’s going on?”

“Oh nothing,” he grinned sarcastically. “While you lucky heroes are out fighting monsters and sleeping in abandoned luxury apartments, the camp has been hit by a little coldspell. And then by a heatwave. And then another coldspell.”

“The infirmary isn’t usually this full,” Kharis gasped. I heard a hint of pain in his voice.

“No kidding!” He pulled a blanket tight over his shoulders, “We don’t know why, but the weather over camp is all over the place. One day it’s normal, then it’s snowing! And so Dionysus tries to make it warmer for us, but the next day when the snow is gone, it’s hot as Hades.”

Hades isn’t even that hot. Why do people keep saying that.

“Has anyone gone into shock?” Kharis asked urgently. 

“Why would that happen?” Celeste arched a brow, “It’s just snow.”

“It’s about the effects on the bo- the boOh-” Chro interrupted himself with a loud sneeze. “Good gods this sucks.”

“It’s about the effects on the body,” Trina continued for him. “The sudden change in temperature can be too much for the human body and send it into shock. It’s the same reason you shouldn’t jump between the pool and the hot tub.”

“Yeah,” Chro pressed his blanket to his cheeks. “And it’s usually so warm here no one has winter clothes or supplies. Everyone’s sick as hell.” 

“But how could it be so cold? I mean, it snowed before we left but we’re still in New York. I’m wearing a shawl but I don’t have frostbite.”

“Some halfbloods have gone out with Chiron for supplies and apparently it’s just camp.” Chro moved out of the way so some Apollo campers could help a sick halfblood. Then he left the infirmary all together, “And we’ve been seeing this weird. Thing.”

“Thing?”

“Like. A face I guess,” he looked up through the snow. “It’s not there right now but sometimes it appears in a cloud and then it’s gone.”

“What kind of face?” I stepped toward the iris message, “Was it pointy?”

“Oh shit,” Celeste blinked down at me with wide eyes. “The face.”

“Actually.. Yeah, I guess it could be described that way.” Chro looked at me with a wary expression, “Why?”

I adjusted my shawl. Even though it was a minor event, my brain was slowly blocking off memories of my separation from Persephone. The car crash in particular, if it was even a crash at all. “I told Celeste at camp- When mom and I were leaving Ohio I saw a face through the back windshield, it had pointy features. I think whatever this face is attached to is messing up the weather.”

“But you said you thought Hades kidnapped Persephone early,” Trina looked at me quizically. “That’s why we’re on this quest.”

“If it’s a monster,” Chroseus cut in, “then it’s from the Underworld. We’ve never seen anything like this before- well, except maybe Typhon, but he’s a titan and not under Hades’s control. Hades sent something upstairs to do his dirty work!”

 _“Μπάσταρδος,”_ I muttered and clenched my fist. 

_“Εγωιστικός,”_ Kharis placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hades is… Probably lonely during the summertime.”

“He has Kero!” I threw my arms up in frustration, “He has an entire kingdom! He has every hero who’s ever died in the history of ever, he has every monster in existence! How could be lonely!? He’s--”

My tantrum was cut off by a rumble. The ground shook and trembled, and I felt the blood drain from my face. Nothing happened, but I thought the earth would open up beneath us and we’d drop right into Hades’s royal throne room.

“Watch what you say, Cecil,” Chroseus shook his head. “Besides, this is all hypothesis, and he’s your stepfather. I doubt he’d hurt you or Persephone on purpose..” 

“We don’t know anything for sure,” Trina said behind me. “We can’t assume.”

“Speaking of not knowing things!” Celeste stepped between me and the iris message. “We actually called to ask if you know of any oracles here in New York.”

Chro raised a brow, then laughed. “One cryptic prophecy not enough for you, Astrepi? Gods, you’re zealous. Yeah, I know a guy.”

Chroseus told us the address of the nearest oracle. He lived in Pennsylvania, and we were in Buffalo. Yes, there’s a Buffalo, NY. 

“That’s nearly 16 hours by bus,” Kharis grimaced. 

“Are you on a time crunch?” Chroseus sneezed, “I suggest you leave at night so there won’t be so many passengers.”

“And to avoid being eaten by monsters,” I nodded. 10 hours was a lot, but I’d been on a lot of road trips. “Thanks so much Chroseus, but I have to call Kero now. Stay warm, okay?”  
  
“Have fun, young heroes.” He waved us off with his 4 fingered hand as his face blurred into the mist. Kharis tossed in the next coin.

“Kero Hades,” he said. The mist turned red as the image of the underworld appeared before us.

“Nice decorations,” Celeste snickered. “Who’s your interior designer?”

“King Henry the 8th,” Kero responded without looking up. He was knelt at the shore of either the Styx or the Lethe, hacking at it’s ice covered surface. There was one problem with this: neither rivers were frozen.

“How kind of you to CALL,” he swung down and cracks spread from the point of his tool. “When you don’t bother to when you first went missing. Do you know how scary it is to be told your step-sibling is on a quest by an ancient centaur?”

“Hey, it’s not Cecil’s fault!” Celeste balled her hands into fists, “Poseidon dropped them off at camp without permission. They were busy.”

I shrunk into myself. “Don’t worry about it, Celeste.” I turned around to face all 3 of them, “Could I make this call in private? I’ll meet you at the train station down the block,” I tossed my coin purse to Trina.

Celeste looked doubtful, but relaxed when Kharis placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be long, Cecil. It’s getting very late, and you are very small.” Kharis pat my head, “You would make an excellent midnight snack for a monster.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

My friends turned and walked across the lawn, down the sidewalk, and out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to upload this @ school on my phone so sorry if theres weird formatting errors
> 
> Also thank you for almost 100 reads <3


	14. Did You Know Harvard Has A Medical School?

“... and then we fixed the chariot and Apollo dropped us in New York last night.”  
  
I spent nearly 20 minutes summarizing everything that happened in the 8 days between leaving home and now. I skipped a few details- Trina keeping the gorgon head, me tricking Dolos, my dream about mom -to save some time. Kero listened as the river froze against the bank, head in hand, teeth biting his chapped lips.  
  
“And what have you done today?” He asked.  
  
“Called Chro and called you. He gave us an oracle’s address, Celeste wanted to visit.”  
  
He nodded, “It’s in character for her to want a second oracle’s opinion. That or she wants to sleep in a real bed, seeing as this oracle has an address.”  
  
“You know Celeste?” I sas criss-cross on the ground. My feet were falling asleep, and maybe my brain was too. “But you’ve never been to camp.”  
  
Kero chuckled, “Not necessarily. I’ve visited camp during emergencies, but I met Celeste when me and Chroseus found her in a forest. She was 7, maybe- Feya was 9 and Chro and I were 10. Hades was taking care of a minor dracaena infestation in that forest. They were lucky to survive.”  
  
“Survive the dracaena or Hades?”  
  
“Pffft, both.”  
  
We had a small laugh, but the anecdote puzzled me. Kero, Hades and Chro found Celeste and Feya as kids, and that explained how Feya knew him. Why she had a letter that I was now delivering. But also, did Hades remember Celeste? Maybe he knew her godly parent.  
  
“Do you keep up with Celeste at all?” If she was best friends my big brother this whole time and didn’t tell me we were gonna have a problem.  
  
“She and Chroseus were closer from the start,” he shrugged. “A friendly rivalry, as I’m sure you’ve seen. Personally I don’t think we’ve talked much.”  
  
“And Feyisetan?”  
  
A light blush came over my brother’s face. And by a light blush I mean his face went red as a tomato, since he’s albino. “We talk. Sometimes.”  
  
“Sometimes?”  
  
Kero picked at the zipper on his coat, “We’re, uh… Penpals.”  
  
“Oh~? Do you send each other love letters? Are you secretly a poet, Kero?”  
  
“I am not!! And no, we do not!” Kero shook his head.  
  
I snickered. “Well, she gave me a letter to deliver to you. I guess penpals isn’t commonly used in place of lovers.”  
  
“We’re not lovers,” he frowned. “That would be silly, come next year.”  
  
Context: When Kero turns 18 he will be crowned King of the Underworld, and become the god of death. Additional context: Hades is not the god of death! It used to be Thanatos, but like Helios & Selene, he faded away long ago.  
  
“You have a point there,” I stood and dusted off my pants. “I’ve wasted way too much time chatting with you, man. I wish I was home.”  
  
“We miss you too Cecil,” he bowed his head. “The workers are antsy without you or Persephone here.”  
  
“Wait, what?” I perked up. “Mom is the goddess of ghosts, but I don’t have any power over the dead.”  
  
“By family relation, you are technically a prince of the Underworld. I assumed that's why they’ve been so rowdy.”  
  
“Okay. New topic: is the Underworld okay?” I’m 95% sure the rivers don’t usually freeze over. That should’ve been the first sign something was very wrong.  
  
“Not really?” Kero ran a hand through his white hair, standing to stretch his legs. “There’s been fights in the mines, and I feel like we’re this close to a riot. And the rivers are frozen- we can’t have the workers break the ice or they’ll run away -and snow keeps falling through the front gates.” As he said that, a snowflake fell in front of his face. A light shower fell over him. Kero looked like he was going to faint.  
  
“Oh my gods,” I felt blood rush away from my face. “So my mom is gone, the Underworld and Camp Halfblood are freezing over, the dead are lowkey rioting. Anything else?”  
  
“The train isn’t working. It’s tracks are frozen over.”  
  
“How can that even happen!? It’s not a physical train!!” Purple petals fell in front of my face. I reached up and plucked a begonia from my sprouts. “By the gods, what in fresh Hades is going on? What was that thing that threw the car?”  
  
“It’s possible that Boreas is causing the harsh weather,” Kero said in a calm voice. “Did he and Persephone have any fights recently?”  
  
“They get along fine.” Boreas is the god of winter and stuff. He’s like that one uncle that visits for a holiday then he disappears off the face of the earth. Then he comes back! And then he’s gone. He and Persephone are close because winter comes when she’s in the Underworld. “Unless he and Hades are trying to take over the world together.”  
  
“And that is unlikely,” Kero nodded. “Hades is extremely distressed, what with Persephone missing and his workers misbehaving.”  
  
I clenched my fist. Kero didn’t know that we were going to the Underworld because we thought- well, I thought -that Hades kidnapped her again. As I learned more about the situation it made less and less sense.  
  
“Whatever is happening,” I took a deep breath, “my quest is to find Persephone. If that fixes the weather, or at least find what’s causing it.. That would be nice.”  
  
Kero gave me a sympathetic look, “Everything will be alright Cecil. Focus on finding mom- whatever else is happening isn’t your responsibility. Remember that.”  
  
It sounded a little condescending, but I knew he didn’t mean it like that. The whole situation had me stressed even though I only had one mission. I could take care of everything else later; for now, I needed my mom back.  
  
“Thanks for the chat, Kero.” I waved at him through the iris message, “I’ll see you soon, okay? I’m not sure if we’re going through DOA records or somewhere else, but eventually I’ll pay you a visit.”  
  
“Be safe Cecil,” he nodded in return. “Farewell.”  
  
I waved my hand through the iris message and my brother fizzled out into the air with the mist. Then I booked it out of the yard and down the street, because now I had an angry mortal chasing me with a shovel and shouting “get off my lawn!!!”  
  
\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -  
  
Out of breath, I found my friends at the bus station where I told them to wait. Celeste was the only one awake, Kharis and Trina’s sleepy heads resting on her shoulders.  
  
“Bout time!” She stood and let the others bonk heads, waking them both up. “I thought you were monster chum by now.”  
  
“Aww, was the big bad Celeste Astrepi worried about me?” I got on my tippy toes and placed the begonia behind her ear. “Even if a monster did sneak up on me, you know I have a sword.”  
  
“Auuugh…” Trina groaned, holding her head. "Talk about a, a rude awakening."  
  
Kharis was barely fazed by the impact. He was too busy shoving all of us toward the boarding area, where our scheduled train was about to take off. He'd bought tickets while waiting for me and I'd been a few minutes too late. The 4 of us pushed through the doors The 3 Stooges style, flopping onto the train floor.  
  
"Hnnng… is this how a potato feels?" I groaned from underneath my friends. One by one they peeled themselves off the floor and Trina gave me her hand. We all collapsed into a row of seats as the train bounced and bumped along it's tracks.  
  
"The oracle lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania." Kharis yawned and dragged his hands down his face. "There's a few stops in between here and there, but Pennsylvania is on the way to Ohio, so we're going in the right direction."  
  
"Told y'all this was a good idea!" Celeste stretched her legs out and rested her feet on the chairs across the aisle, "We would've been in New York forever if I hadn't spoken up."  
  
"Sure," Kharis said with a chuckle.  
  
The 4 of us settled in like baby birds in a nest. Trina unpacked our blankets and we built our own monster-proof slice of Olympus. Of all the demigods I could have chosen to come on this quest, I felt blessed to get stuck with these 3. That's probably why, despite the cozy warmth of our blankets, I felt like someone was walking over my grave. An icy sense of dread washed over me. I hoped it was just an open window- that is, until I noticed the only other people on the train.  
  
As my friends drifted to sleep around me I laid my eyes on the Fates. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The 3 crones sat against the left end of our train car, close to the doors, snickering to each other like gossiping kids. Lachesis had the sack full of their thread and Clotho held the needles. Atropos's scissors dangled on a chain around her neck. As I stared, my eyes the size of dinner plates, their whispers and groans echoed in my head. They were always around- their voices, their whispers, their singing -but it'd become background noise to me. They got louder when bad things happened like car crashes or fights at school. But there was nothing wrong here; no monsters, no threats. What were they doing?  
  
Lachesis wrapped thread around her finger, which had a dazzling amethyst ring that matched her sisters'. She politely passed it to Atropos, who turned her head and looked right through me. The Fates' faces were difficult to describe, but for now, let's just say they weren't the last people you'd wanna see before you die. Thankfully they weren't in my case- Atropos only stared at me, then when I blinked, all 3 of them disappeared.  
  
I felt stupid, but their appearances scared me so much I was crying a little bit. I tried not to shake or sniffle too much because then it would wake up my friends. I sank deeper into the blankets and laid my head on Celeste's shoulder, willing myself into sleep.  
  
When Kharis said there were "a few stops" between Buffalo and Harrisburg, oh my Gods. He grossly under-exaggerated. We went on the train, slept, got off, walked to the next train, slept a Tiny bit, god off, walked some more. It was exhausting. If I died and earned punishment in Hades, this exact cycle would be it- and dont even get me started on the weather.  
  
"This better be w-wo-worth it," I stuttered as we approached the Oracle's apartment building. Celeste tried using my shawl as a blanket with me but she was too tall so Trina and I shuffled down the sidewalk together like a turtle.  
  
Kharis stepped towards the doorway and examined the buzzer system. I knew how it worked because I lived in an apartment building with mom, but maybe he didn’t. Speaking of which, why did an oracle live in an apartment building? I figured they’d live in a fancy mansion or church.  
  
The tall blonde pushed a button and the buzzer rang. An annoyingly shrill voice responded.  
  
“Who are you? Go away."  
  
"Uuh…" Kharis shrank in place. He spoke into the mic, "This is Kharis Brightly. I'm here with Ceci--"  
  
"Cecil Parker?"  
  
Celeste nudged me and whispered. "You know this guy?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
There was a loud EEEEEEEEER and a click. Kharis turned the door handle and it opened.  
  
"Let's go," Trina hurried inside. "I'm fre- freezing out here."  
  
At first I wondered how this oracle knew about me, but then I remembered that word spreads fast among the gods. If they knew mom was gone, then their servants and allies knew, then everyone knew.  
  
Kharis lead us up the stairs to apartment 201. Most of the doors were dull and grey like the ones from my building in Ohio, but this one was very different. The door itself was pearly white with ornate gold detailing around the frame. The handle was round and shined like Kharis’s eyes, practically glowing with sunlight.  
  
“Wonder if this guy gets many visitors,” Celeste said under her breath. Regardless, I opened the door.  
  
The apartment matched the door. It was obvious that the mist did most of the work for this oracle, because if a mortal walked in here, they’d have a stroke. The room was built like a castle lounge; large arched doorways, a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the floor was a set of sofas and coffee table facing wall-length windows. I stepped in and peeked through the archway to our left, where our oracle sat at a desk cluttered with books. Oh yeah, the room was nice and all but oh my gods there were textbooks and novels everywhere. There were paintings but they were covered with scrawled graph paper and maps. It looked the dorm room of a college student who majored in everything. I heard Kharis wince as the oracle turned to face us.  
  
My description of the apartment definitely matched the oracle’s appearance. A college student who majored in everything.  
  
“Before you say anything,” I held up a hand, “pronouns?”  
  
“What?” The oracle scowled at first, but registered my questions. “Uh.. They/them is fine.”  
  
“Okay. Hi, I’m Cecil, I use those pronouns too. This is Trina, she’s awesome and small like me. Celeste, she’ll probably steal something, sorry in advance. This is Khari--”  
  
“Oh.” The oracle glared and turned back to their desk. I looked to Kharis for an explanation because if he already knew this oracle personally why did we wait this long to visit!!  
  
Kharis looked nervous, like when we had to talk to his mother. Maybe he’s not a fan of oracles. “Cecil.. This is Greyson. They’re the current host of the spirit of Cassandra. We went to Harvard together.”  
  
I inhaled so quickly I nearly choked on my tongue. “HARVARD? Like the LAW SCHOOL?”  
  
“The medical school,” Greyson growled. “But still Harvard.”  
  
YEAH if Kharis knew this guy why didn’t we just hit the road when Celeste mentioned an oracle yesterday morning!!  
  
“Take a seat,” Greyson waved us toward the sofas. “I’m almost done with this study guide.”


	15. Mother Knows Best

Greyson was immediately on my good side. They shared the food they had- which, thanks to Hephaestus's never-ending fridge commission, was a whole lot -and let everyone shower and change clothes. To be honest, that was the best shower I'd ever taken. Partially because the shower itself was built well, partially because I hadn't bathed in 8 days. It was risky for me to get dehydrated since I'm part plant so I took a bath instead and drank hella water afterwards. 

Everyone sat in the lounge where we also took our luggage out of Trina's grocery bag to find our clean clothes. I had a hard time finding something to eat because Greyson was vegan and I can't eat plants or I'm a cannibal. They ordered me a burger from a fast food joint and listened as we summarized our quest so far.

Greyson picked at their salad, "So you're not sure if it was Hades after all. Is that why you've come to see me?"

"I just had this feeling in my gut," Celeste said, "that we weren't on the right path. Kharis and Chroseus can vouch for me- the oracle doesn't always tell the whole truth."

"Right," Greyson stabbed their fork through their styrofoam take-out plate. "About that…" 

I rolled my eyes, "Don't say you won't help because Kharis had a higher GPA than you."

Greyson shot me a sour look. "No, actually, I wasn't going to say that. Kharis is no longer my rival academically, but it's his bloodline that makes me reluctant."

"What do you mean?" Celeste angrily sipped her Dr. Pepper.

"Apollo cursed Cassandra when she denied his affections," Kharis said. He was picking his nails. "She was an oracle, but cursed so that no one would believe her prophecies."

"Are you actually related to Cassandra?" Trina stacked her plate on top of Celeste's, "Or are you only her spirit's host?"

"Both. I am her distant nephew, because oracles had to be maidens." His lip twitched.

It was quiet for a moment. I glanced out the window and saw that the sun was turning orange. Pink clouds floated across the sky like cotton candy, but snow continued to cover the city in an endless blizzard.

"Could we… possibly spend the night?" I asked. I pulled every etiquette lesson I'd ever had to the front of my mind. "We won't survive out there at night. We'd freeze to death."

"If you aren't eaten by monsters first," Greyson mused, stirring their coffee. "... If I let you stay, monsters everywhere will be knocking down my door for a taste of you halfbloods."

"We have swords," Celeste said confidently. Greyson stifled a laugh.

"Cecil has a sword," they gestured. "And little to no training, at that.You have a bow, Trina has a hatchet and other things. Kharis has… Pacifism."

Celeste's jaw dropped. Even without looking at her, I knew what she was thinking. 'If they knew that, do they know my godly parent?'

"... You may stay the night," Greyson's smile disappeared and their steely expression returned. "You can eat what you want, leave when you want. I don't care as long as you don't interrupt my studies."

"So will you give us a prophecy?"

"No," they frowned. "I don't do prophecies."

"So you'll let us stay and sleep here but you won't give us a hint? No guidance?" I stood abruptly, "That makes no sense!"

"It's called karma, Cecil Parker." Greyson stood, and I noticed they were maybe half a foot taller than me. "I'm playing my cards close to my chest. I am not fond of demigods, and I am displaying the appropriate hospitality towards a bunch of nobody halfbloods on a suicide mission," they thrust their pointer finger into my chest. "I can see the bigger picture, and in the grand scheme of things, my assistance in this quest will bite me in the back later. So for everyone's sake, no! I am not giving you a hint, and I am definitely not giving you a prophecy. "

Greyson took a moment to catch their breath. The lounge was silent. Kharis reached up and pulled me back down to the couch. Greyson stared at the air and not at us; their eyes were glossed over for a moment, almost glowing like Pythia's at camp. 

"And even if I told you anything," they added, "you wouldn't believe me. That's the curse, remember?"

They left us to get our sleeping bags set up.

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

Celeste, Kharis, Trina and I reconstructed our sleeping circle. We took turns changing in the bathroom and talked about nothing before actually sleeping. I laid on top of my sleeping bag, arms crossed behind my head. This whole quest felt like a game of Clue. Lots of details, but no big pictures. I envied Greyson; even if they were cursed, they knew everything that was coming my way. They knew what happened to my mom; where she was right then; if she was okay.

"Hey," Kharis tapped my arm to get my attention. "Are you alright?"

Cecil Parker Tip #1: if someone doesn't look okay, don't ask if they're okay. I roll over to face him and change the subject, "You went to Harvard?"

Kharis blushed. He closed his book, "Yes. I enrolled when I was 10."

"So you have, like… a masters degree?"

"Actually, I barely finished my associates. I dropped out when I was 12."

I scrunched up my nose. Kharis chuckled.

"I was helped by demigods from camp," he said. "Actually, they found lots of halfbloods at the school."

I squished my face in my pillow. "Did they help Greyson?"

Kharis's smile faded. He pursed his lips in thought. ".... No, they didn't. We left them there."

"Because at the time," I guessed, "they didn't want a cursed oracle."

Kharis nodded. He crossed his arms over his pillow and laid his head down, "I feel guilty about that. It was out of my control, but they probably felt abandoned. Like they weren't good enough for demigods."

I rolled away and laid on my back. The sky was dark now, clouds covering the stars so the snowflakes seemed to fall from an endless void. As in many situations, I wondered how Persephone would deal with Greyson. She'd probably chew them out, because it's very rude to shout at people, especially indoors. But besides that…

"Hey Kharis. Cassandra was cursed by Apollo, right?"

"Yes..? I already told you."

"Cursed as in like. Cursed cursed?"

"I think there's only one way to be cursed, Cecil."

I sat up and lept to my feet. "Let's go talk to Greyson. I wanna try something."

"I don't know Cecil, it's late." Kharis yawned into his hand, "They probably don't want to be bothered."

"This'll only take a second, promise." I pulled him off the ground and marched to Greyson's study. 

Before we even opened the door, Celeste burst out of the study with an angry expression and hot tears streaming down her face. She shoved us aside and hurried back to the living room.

"Shouldn't we--" 

"In a minute." It hurt to ignore Celeste crying, but I figured this was a little more urgent. Trina was in the living room, we would come back soon. I opened the door to Greyson's study and I was met with a frustrated groan.

"Good gods. You four are so nosey," Greyson plopped into his desk chair. "She asked; I answered. And I said she wouldn't believe me. Not my fault she has daddy issues."

"What?" My face went red, suddenly angry at Greyson's disregard for Celeste's feelings. But it passed as soon as it came, and petunias sprouted from my head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Stand up for a second."

"Don't tell me what to d-- Hey! Don't touch me!"

I pulled Greyson up by the arm. I held their arm in my right hand and Kharis's in my left.

"Stay still, I promise this will take just a moment."

Did you know Persephone was the goddess of curses? And ghosts, I think, but that was irrelevant. I focused all my energy into my chest, drawing a force up from the underworld and into my heart. To tell you the truth, it felt like someone replaced my blood with oil. Everything felt fuzzy, words came out of my mouth that I couldn't quite hear. Energy flowed from both Greyson and Kharis, colliding in my ribcage and rattling my bones into they were gravel. The lights were flickering in the study, I think I heard something drop and break from a shelf.

In that moment, like an eye of a storm, I felt connected to my mother. To the pure and healing force of nature itself. To the spirit of Cassandra, now finally released from Apollo's selfish curse.

My grip gave out and my knees buckled. I flopped forward and nearly hit my head on a dresser, but Kharis grabbed my shoulders and leaned me against the desk instead. 

"Cecil! Oh my gods, Cecil, look at me-- Don't close your eyes! Cecil, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uugh.. 25…?" Kharis held up 5 fingers in front of my head, but it looked like he had 5 hands. 

The ringing in my ears faded and the lights flickered one last time. I heard Greyson day something out of earshot as they hurried away. Their footsteps returned and a cold glass bottle was pushed to my lips. 

"PBFFPTHBBTPT--"

"Its nectar, idiot! Don't spit it out!"

I tilted my head back and drank. To me, nectar tasted like the cleanest water ever to be produced on earth. Heavy breaths flew in and out of me as my bones pulsed and clicked, readjusting themselves into place. When I could see again, Greyson and Kharis were knelt beside me, as if I were on my deathbed. Greyson looked dumbfounded. 

"What… was that?" They asked. "What did you just do?"

It felt easier to breathe now. I turned my head towards the oracle, "I figured… on behalf of the gods… I owed you a favor. So I.." Yaaawn, "I lifted your curse."

"I didn't know you could lift curses."

"Me neither. I just.. had the impulse." I reached up and wiped a drop of blood from my nose. Gross. "I figured, that's what my mom would do, if.. If she were here right now. Because no one likes to be cursed, and.. I was stupid for Apollo to curse your aunt, just because she didn't wanna date, and--"

"Okay let's get you to bed."

"--just because Apollo cursed Cassandra doesn't mean you should have to deal with that and--"

"Kharis, help me pick them up. They really need to rest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to those of you who celebrate, happy holidays <3


	16. Running Errands for the Great Prophet

Greyson and Kharis laid me on my sleeping bag. As I slipped between sleep and consciousness, I realized just how much that curse had drained me. I was sweating and shivering all night, the Fates singing and whispering while everyone else slept.

My dream was strange. So strange, in fact, that I thought I was hallucinating after drinking too much nectar. I was laying in a dungeon in the underworld, dressed in a full suit, arms crossed over my chest as if I were at my own funeral. Despite the overwhelming sense of death that hung over my prison cell, flowers grew all around me. Not just flowers, but mom's travel roses. They grew in bunches, in all different sizes, in varying shades of red and black. Though the tiny window, water poured into the room and the ground turned to thick, murky sand. 

I could tell by the color of the water- my prison was at the bottom of the river Styx. The Fates laughed and sang as I drowned.

The dream was interrupted by Celeste shaking me. A sense of deja Vu hit me like a brick- I felt like I was drowning, I was half conscious, and an angel was guiding me away from the light. 

"Cecil? Are you good?" Celeste shook me by the shoulder and moved hair out of my face. "Wake up, you're choking."

I turned my head and coughed, clearing my throat.  _ "Νομίζω ότι είμαι στα μισά του τειμού μου." _

"Aww. You can't die yet, buddy." She laid down next to me, "you still have a quest to finish." Celeste raised her hand and poked around my eyes, "Have you always had these bags? You don't sleep much, do you?"

"Mm-mmh, I… have a bit of an insomnia problem. But these aren't…-"  _ yawn,  _ "-these aren't because I can't sleep. I lifted Greyson's curse.. At least I think I did?"

She blinked at me. "Really? You can do that? So, like, they're still an oracle right? And they can tell true prophecies, right?"

I studied her pale face in the moonlight. She looked like a child after being told that Santa Claus was downstairs in the living room. "You asked Greyson about your godly parent, didn't you?"

Her excited expression disappeared. Celeste rolled onto her back, "Yeah."

I tried not to sigh. "I know I could never understand, but… why is it so important to you? Your godly parent doesn't define you, Celeste. You're amazing without them."

Celeste was quiet. She tapped her nails on the floor, "I know I don't need them. I know I don't need their… approval, I guess, but Cecil-" she cut herself off to think. "Your mom. You miss her every day, don't you? You miss her every second you're apart."

I turned and laid on my side to face her. Celeste's illuminated profile looked sad and lonely despite being two feet away from 3 other demigods. "I guess."

"Unclaimed demigods feel that 24/7. And it's so much worse, because we miss someone we've never met."

I nodded as she closed her eyes.

"I just… feel incomplete without knowing who made me."

I thought about it. If I didn't know my mom or dad, if I were an orphan…

I rolled over and hugged Celeste from behind. She flinched at first, but then relaxed.

“After we rescue my mom,” I said, “we’ll probably have to go to Olympus. And I’ll fight every god until your dad steps forward and grows a pair.”

Celeste was quiet, then laughed softly. “They’d blast you out of this century, Cecil. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

We probably didn't wake up for hours, but I felt like I'd slept 5 years on-and-off on the forest floor. But I was sure that I wasn't dying or anything, because I found chrysanthemum petals on the floor when Trina was waking me for breakfast. Celeste was gone- she was making breakfast with Greyson.

Kharis knelt beside me and took my temperature, felt my head for a fever, checked my pulse. Lots of health stuff.

"You don't seem sick or drained," he said while looking at his watch. "How do you feel?"

"I think someone replaced my bones with gravel while I slept."

"Hm. That's not good," he said bluntly. Kharis stood, "I'll get you some food and nectar."

As he left, Trina approached. "You look like hell."

"Thanks." I leaned against the couch, trying to ignore my fading headache. "I think I have a magic hangover."

"I think ginger is a good hangover cure," she said, looking at my hair. "But you don't eat plants, do you? That's cannibalism."

"Exactly. And eating ginger would be, like, double cannibalism for me."

"Because of the hair."

"Yes."

Kharis soon returned with a plate of pancakes. 

"Celeste sprinkled some ambrosia on top," he said, "though I don't think you need it at this point. Your body is mostly healed, you're just tired from using so much energy."

"Well a hearty breakfast will fix that, won't it?" I was pretty sure pancakes had sugar, and sugar meant energy. That's what mom said, anyway. I happily ate the best pancakes I'd ever had. They were soft and fluffy, just like the ones Hades made on particularly cold nights downstairs. 

The Underworld was probably being snowed in right now, and Kero must be stressed beyond description. Up here, though, the snow was falling lighter than before. I imagined all the EXTREME WEATHER WARNINGs and how many kids were off school. On top of that, all the parents and adults that couldn't go to work.

"So what's our next step, Cecil?" Celeste skipped out of the kitchen and belly-flopped into the couch. She wore a  _ Kiss the cook!  _ apron and had pancake batter in her hair.

"I mean.. I never realized how close Pennsylvania and Ohio are until now," I bit the tongs of my fork. "A few more trains and buses and we should be marching into the Underworld before we know it."

Kharis bit his lip, "About that.."

We all turned our head. He flushed at the sudden attention. 

"At the moment," he said, "there are no functional bus or train stations in Harrisburg. The weather has caused any and all public transportation to go on hold until further notice. I tried to get a ticket this morning."

"What? That's ridiculous!!" I stood up a little too fast, nearly falling backwards onto the couch. I stepped to the windows to look outside. "In Ohio it snowed way worse than this, and we never had school off!"

"Well consider the context, Cecil Parker."

I turned and saw Greyson leaning in the archway between the lounge and the kitchen. "What?"

"Pennsylvania gets snow, yes," they stood up straight and wiped flour off their sleeve, "but not like this. Imagine if Ohio had a massive earthquake or a hurricane. Do you think everything would be a-okay?"

I tried to frown, but I really couldn't, because Greyson was right. I sat on the couch armrest and Celeste sat up behind me, playing with my hair.

"So we just.. wait?" I asked flatly. "We can't afford a plane ticket, and they're probably not flying planes anyways."

Trina collected dirty plates and silverware. "I don't suppose Apollo is free for another ride?"

"No," Kharis shook his head. "I'm not getting in that chariot again."

I groaned and slumped backwards into Celeste's lap. She was tapping her lip in thought.

"If we can't go anywhere outside in Harrisburg, we could always occupy ourselves inside the city," she said. "Monsters are probably having a ball with all the mortals snowed in."

"They're probably scouring the city in search of us, uh, in particular." Trina twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "But this building is hidden by the mist."

"Correct, and-..." Greyson paused abruptly. "I have errands. And Trina, you have errands." They turned and trotted off to the office, shouting through the walls. "Do me a favor, demigods."

"Are they serious?" I whispered.

"They sound serious to me," Celeste answered. 

Greyson returned with a pad of paper and a pen. "Some of these are just groceries, but most of them will aid you in your quest. Trust me."

Kharis stood to look over the list. At first he looked doubtful, but then his expression turned hopeful and excited. "Actually, this is… Very helpful." He folded it up into a paper airplane and flew it over to the couch. Trina, Celeste and I huddled together to read.

**_STORE - eggs, apple juice, sugar, strawberries_ **

**_CITY - Junior's Arcade, get the high score in DARTS_ **

**_CLUB - gambling, blackjack_ **

**_PLAYGROUND - under the pirate ship_ **

"Does anyone else not know what this means?" I asked.

"I get it," Kharis said, slipping on his big yellow coat. "Everyone bundle up!"

The other 3 of us got up and dressed. I noticed that Trina remained in shorts and a flannel, but being the daughter of Hephaestus with fire powers, it made sense for her to be immune to the cold. Celeste, on the other hand, was born in Greek and build for warmer weather, so she piled layer upon layer upon layer. I wore my winter coat, embroidered with flowers by my mom, and fur lined boots. We were halfway out the door when Kharis stopped and turned to face us.

"Just in case, Celeste, you might wanna grab your bow."

\- - CECIL + CELESTE - -

The four of us split up between each of Greyson's listed locations. Kharis was grocery shopping, Trina insisted on the playground and arcade by herself, and Celeste and I were at the club. Thank the gods Kharis wasn't with us because he definitely would have had a seizure. 

Just looking through the doorway made my eyes hurt. The club was split in 2 halves; the left side was structured like a 1950s casino, complete with a bar and dozens scantily clad waitresses. The right side looked much more modern, a city club where heartbroken college girls could hook up with some bozo for a night and move on. Music blared and lights flashed and changed colors, people danced like they were on drugs. And they probably were on drugs.

"Thankfully blackjack is on the civilized side of the club," Celeste said to me.

The casino was mostly gold and green. The carpet was the color of a pool table, all the bar stools had green vinyl covers. The walls and gambling tables were shiny gold as if King Midas himself owned the place. The people on this side looked older, more sophisticated, and were dressed in the same colors as their decor. 

Celeste and I were stopped at the door by the bouncer, because two 15 year old kids were obviously not allowed in an alcohol-serving establishment. He was like an ugly fusion of the club's two halves. His suit was green and perfectly dry cleaned, but he had tattoos and piercings wherever he could get them. Not a pretty sight.

Before he could say anything, I snapped my fingers. "You will let us in without question."

The mist did its job. The bouncer blinked behind his shades and stepped aside, opening the door for us. Celeste wore a mischievous grin. She snapped her fingers,

"You will give us each 50 bucks."

The bouncer hesitated before pulling out his wallet.

"Celeste," I raised a brow at her. "That was unnecessary."

"Bar drinks are expensive, Cecil! Especially non-alcoholic ones." We both accepted $50 from the bouncer and walked inside. "And now we can pay for public transportation when it stops snowing."

We walked inside together. I didn't know much about casinos or gambling, but I did know that blackjack was a card game. There was only one table with cards, and there was one seat left empty. 

"So uh, I'm not much of a gambler," I whispered to Celeste, "I'll let you handle this. Being an honorary Hermes kid and all."

Celeste hummed and eyed the blackjack table, "I would be happy to cheat some old coots out of their money. You watch out for monsters."

With a nod, we split up. I definitely sensed monsters somewhere, but I couldn't tell exactly. Maybe they were outside or in a neighboring building. I ordered a water at the bar and sat on a high stool. 

People-watching was probably one of my favorite hobbies. It's amazing how much you can tell about people just by observing- it made life feel like a video game, and everyone was an NPC. A man at the slot machine was swearing to an employee that he'd won the jackpot, but the machine glitched and re-randomized his score. A woman serving hors d'oeuvres pick-pocketed a patron while running her hand down his back. A girl in a green and yellow suit was on the phone in the back of the room. She looked… vaguely familiar. 

She had warm silvery hair with purple streaks, tied up in a bun with a shiny red bow. She had tan skin and deep red eyes, a pattern of dark magenta splattered across her nose bridge. 

"… Feya?" 

She glanced at me but barely long enough for me to see her face. She hung up the phone and walked away, towards the other half of the room.

"Hey, Feya!" I left the bar to follow her. If it was Feyisetan, she might be able to help us- or maybe she had news from camp. I pushed through adults and pimps and crossed into the more modern side of the club.

It was definitely loud, but at the same time, I couldn't hear anything at all. There was a faint ringing in my ears, blocking out the music everyone was dancing to. Instead I heard the Fates again. They sang and wailed in my ears as I pushed through the crowd, following the trail of silver hair and rose fragrance. This side of the club seemed much bigger, and the Fates only got louder. 

I stumbled and hit someone's back, tripping over my feet and falling backwards. Feyisetan turned around and faced me, but something was wrong with her face. Not wrong, just… off. I could have sworn her birthmark was somewhere else. Before I could speak, she flashed a malicious grin that made my face turn white.

"You better go back. It's easy for heroes to get distracted on a quest."

It was then that I noticed the screaming on the other side of the room. 

I rushed to my feet and pulled out my sword, but Feyisetan was already gone, like she was never there in the first place. I didn't dwell on it as I ran back to the casino where an angry looking manticore was holding Celeste 2 feet off the ground. Playing cards were strewn about the floor and the blackjack table was laying on its side. A couple of furies stood around them, eyeing Celeste like she was their next meal.

"Cheating little girl!" The manticore roared. "Enough of your tricks!"

"I didn't need to cheat to win against you, Fluffy!" Celeste flailed in his grasp, trying to reach her quiver. "You're just mad you lost to a demigod!"

As a fury jumped to bite her, I lunged forward and thrust Leaf through it's back. The fury screamed and turned to dust, it's twin hissing and backing away.

"What?" The manticore looked to me in shock. I saw him loosen his grip on Celeste. "Is this..?"

"Cecil. Parker." I didn't usually say my name with such confidence, but I knew how the manticore recognized me. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Prince of the Underworld," he mused. "Why do you defend such nameless scum? You should be with your father by now. Run along and return home."

His tone made something in my head snap. I jumped forward and stabbed Leaf into his chest, slicing through his abdomen. The manticore roared in agony and dissolved instantly. Celeste landed on her feet and turned towards the remaining fury, an arrow in her hand.

"Wait," I held out an arm. She looked at me like I was crazy. Like:  _ hello.  _ That is a  _ monster. _ I step towards the monster, holding Leaf in front of me.

"Return to the Underworld," I said, "and tell Hades we're on our way."

The fury trembled and nodded, flapping it's leathery wings and soaring out of the casino with a WOOSH. Celeste and I lifted the blackjack table back onto it's feet and picked up all the cards.

"Hello, demigods!" 

I flinched and hit my head on the bottom of the table. A plastic-looking waitress stood in front of us. She was a cross between a fraternity girl and a model. She held a large silver platter with a dome-shaped cover. 

"Celeste Astrepi, it looks like you won tonight's blackjack tournament!" She extended her arms and held the platter towards Celeste. "Feel free to claim your prize now, or whenever you are ready to leave the casino!"

Celeste and I exchanged a glance. "Uuh.. I think now is good. And we'll be on our way after this, okay?" 

Celeste removed the dome and revealed a beautiful lyre. The frame was carved from dark oak wood, healthy vines wrapped around it and grew blue forget-me-nots. The celestial bronze strings sparkled in the light. I could practically hear Orpheus's singing as I took in every detail of my dad's lyre.

\- - TRINA - -

Trina was more than happy to get a break from the group. She loved Cecil and the rest, they were probably the only friends she had outside of her cabin. However, her lack of social skills and severe introversion made group work very very hard, essentially when they weren't fighting a monster. The in-between moments of small talk and ice breakers were almost unbearable. On top of that, she had a small secret she'd been keeping since the beginning of their quest. 

Trina made weapons. No, she made  _ faulty  _ weapons. That was practically her brand at this point. This was because she didn't see a weapon as a tool, she saw it as an extension of oneself. For example, none of Trina's siblings could use Leaf when she first created it. The blade was too short, the wood splintered and cracked, and the marble of oak and celestial bronze threw the balance off. But thank the stars! More accurately, thank Poseidon. It's like Leaf was made for Cecil, like the Fates had specifically planned for that gladius to be Cecil Parker's weapon. That was Trina's tipping point- if Leaf had a destined hero, that meant all her failed attempts did. That meant her next work in progress would be a massive success. 

In ancient Greek mythology, the 3 major gods all had an iconic weapon. Zeus had his lightning bolt, Poseidon had his trident, and Hades had a bident. Tragically, it was lost in the first Titan war, and modern mortals pictured him with a scythe instead. But Trina wasn't interested in crafting a weapon for Hades, no. She was interested in Kero, his son, the heir to the Underworld. Trina would make him a bident so perfect and impressive that Hephaestus would  _ have  _ to let her come home.

But that was then. Right now, Trina was walking down the street to a local arcade. Right now, she had to figure out how to tell her friends that she wasn't actually on this quest to find Persephone. Right now, she had to explain her ulterior motives, and somehow pepper in the fact that she bore the Achilles curse. She also had to find a weapon for Kharis. She respected pacifists, but he was practically open game for monsters.

Trina stepped into the arcade, slipping off her winter jacket and tying it around her waist. The building wasn't very full. Who would go out of their way to play ski ball in this weather? A few adolescents lingered by the Pacman and pinball machines, leaving the dart board open for her.

The scoreboard read:

  1. **_2500 - POL_**
  2. **_2300 - GOR_**
  3. **_1500 - MAX_**
  4. **_1200 - TYP_**
  5. **_1000 - RIC_**



Trina raised an eyebrow at the scores. She figured the points must have been electronically distributed, seeing as most dart boards didn't go past double digits. She slid a dollar into a mini vending machine and it slid 4 darts into a slot for her. Before throwing any of them, Trina examined each dart individually. One was longer and heavier than the others. Two were made of aluminum, two were made of iron. It looked like they all had foam grips at one point, but mortal children had picked and peeled them off over the years, leaving behind bits of dried glue. She twirled the long one between her fingers, getting a feel for it's weight, then threw it.

She repeated this for every dart. Trina hadn't studied aerodynamics in a long time, but it was important that she optimized each throw to get the highest score possible. All 4 darts landed in the center, and her score read  **_2500_ ** . Trina frowned. Was that the maximum score? She slid another dollar into the machine and the darts fell off the board and into a metal tub, through a tube and returned to her.

"Hey!!"

Trina flinched and almost stabbed herself with a dart. She turned and faced a figure so large it cast a shadow over her. Squinting, she made out the details of an ugly boy, likely 6+ feet and over 200 pounds. He picked Trina up by her shirt collar and held her two inches from his blurry face.

"You messin' with my score?"

The demigod turned her head and tried not to gag. His breath smelled like dead fish and sewage. 

"You already have the maximum number of points," she said. "Now put me down."

"Watch 'yer mouth, pipsqueak!" He barked. "You ain't gettin' that fleece. Get off my turf before I crush you!"

Trina blinked. "Excuse me.. Fleece?" 

She hadn't bothered to look at the prize counter, but she noticed it with just a glance. A shiny, glittering golden blanket hanging among giant plush aliens and dollar bills.

So that's why Greyson sent her here.

"Sorry to break it to you," Trina clenched her fist. "But, uh,  _ I'm  _ taking that fleece. And you  _ will _ put me down."

She wound her arm back and punched the bozo between the eyes, her fist covered in blazing fire. To her surprise, he merely dropped her stumbled back squinting his eyes through the smoke.

Or rather, squinting his  _ eye  _ through the smoke. Because he was a cyclops.

"Uurgh…" He rubbed his face and groaned. Trina scrambled onto a table to try and get high ground while he was stunned. She noticed the ceiling had exposed rafters and vents.

"I'm gonna crush you, pipsqueak!" The cyclops dove at her, but Trina was faster. She jumped at the last second, landed on his back, and used him as a trampoline to reach a vent. 

She pulled herself up and carefully laid herself over the top. There was barely enough room for her to lay down. She was safe for the moment, but eventually the vent would break or the cyclops would come grab her. She had a few options- she could drop her hatchet and hope the sharp end hit him. She could jump onto him and swing the hatchet down, but if the timing was off or he fell backwards, she'd probably be toast. Trina peered down at the cyclops, who was looking under tables and yelling at her to come out. She secretly wished she had a shorter, smarter opponent. Then she wouldn't be so indecisive about her strategy. 

While he wasn't looking, Trina lowered herself down and hung from the vent with her right arm holding her hatchet in her left. It seemed like the cyclops had given up. He was playing darts with the dollar she left on the machine. She swung herself back and forth, gaining momentum, and then--

"GAAH!!" The cyclops tumbled forward as she hurled herself onto his back. He was so heavy, the dart dispenser was crushed under him! Trina slammed her hatchet down on his head, turning the cyclops to dust. She fell onto the floor and sat among the cyclops's ashes. The dart dispenser, now permanently broken, spat out tickets that gathered around her like ribbons. The scoreboard, shattered and glitching, had a new name on it.

  1. **_9999 - HRT_**
  2. **_2500 - POL_**
  3. **_2300 - GOR_**
  4. **_1500 - MAX_**
  5. **_1200 - TYP_**



"You really did a number on that ol' bully, fire ant."

Trina snapped her head to the prize counter. An older cyclops leaned on the glass display case, smiling at her. She scrambled to her feet and held her hatchet in defense, but he just laughed at her.

"Oh, don't mind me, demigod. This is my arcade, and that pimple-faced bozo has been keepin' customers away for a while. I'm thankful, really."

She wasn't sure she believed the cyclops. "Don't cyclopses… eat people?"

"Most of us do, but not me, dear." He placed his hand over his heart, "I'm vegan. You can put down your weapon. Come closer, let me get a good look at ya."

Trina lowered the hatchet, but didn't put it away. She walked up to the counter, and as she got closer, she noticed that he had a cataract over his eye.

Blind cyclops. Golden fleece. 2 + 2 = 4. "Are you Polyphemus?"

The cyclops grinned. "You look an awful lot like Nobody, miss. Here," Polyphemus reached up and pulled the golden fleece off it's hook. "You earned enough tickets. Take it."

Trina was practically smoking. Mostly out of fear. Vegan or not, this was a cyclops. Still, she didn't try to say no. She took the fleece and wrapped it around her shoulders. It almost touched the floor like a cape.

"Anything else ya want, fire ant?"

Trina surveyed the prizes with pursed lips.

"Do I have enough tickets for that skateboard?"

\- - KHARIS - -

Kharis was happy to have the most boring errand. He couldn't remember the last time he went grocery shopping! The tall blonde demigod pushed his shopping cart, occasionally placing his foot on the bottom bar and gracefully riding down an isle. Greyson only requested eggs, apple juice, sugar and strawberries, so Kharis assumed they were making some kind of strawberry-apple dessert dish. He probably wasn't going to get to try it, but he wasn't a fan of sugar, so that was okay. The grocery trip was very fun until Kharis went up to pay. That's when things went very, very wrong.

"Are you a part of our rewards program?" The cashier asked.

"No thank you," he responded, counting his money to pay. All together it was around $12. 

"You drive here?" The cashier asked, "The roads are awful rough."

"No, I walked." Kharis chuckled, "That might be worse than driving, though." He was happy to engage in empty small talk. Kharis loved his friends, but this quest was emotionally and physically draining. Pretending he was a normal moral boy running errands on a normal September day was his way of coping with the possibility that Cecil would fail or die and the world would be plunged into an eternal winter.

"Well you be careful out there," the cashier opened the register. "Just slippin' on that ice could send ya to the ER."

Maybe it was a funny light bulb, or a newly-washed car going by. Maybe one of the dimes caught the light as the cashier gave Kharis his change. But one moment Kharis was upright and breathing, and the next he was on the floor, his eyes glowing and his mind filled with terrible visions of the future.

He was having a seizure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont mind me just uuuuuuuuuuuuh dropping off the face of the earth for a month
> 
> next chapter will be from kharis's perspective. one day i will go through & fix the formats but its midnight so im gonna sleep
> 
> happy new year! <3


	17. Kharis the Wilting Wallflower

Kharis's seizures were almost like dreams. Sometimes he saw flashes of the future, heard a line or two of dialogue, and that was it. Sometimes it felt like he was watching events through a VR headset; he could look around and move a little, but he couldn't do much else than watch what happened around him. Rarely, he was a part of the vision himself, like a lucid dream. These were the scariest but most informative visions, and they happened at the most inconvenient times. Like, for example, when he was shopping for groceries. 

As his back hit the linoleum floor Kharis's surroundings changed. He wasn't falling backwards. He was standing now, as if everything was fine. There wasn't much light, but he felt water on his legs and feet. Upon looking down, he saw he was standing in a freshwater river. Although the current was strong and the water was freezing cold, Kharis felt fine. He was standing on a large convenient rock submerged in the river, so the water only reached his knees. Based on his bleak surroundings, he assumed this was the Underworld, and he was standing in either the Styx or the Lethe.

"Okay," he said to himself. "So far so good." He took careful steps to the riverbank and his pants and shoes dried off immediately. Kharis turned in a circle. He could see a distant village, a large hill with a tree, towering walls of the Hades's kingdom, and the entrance to a cave. But before he could decide where to go, a ringing in his ears grew louder and louder, and the scenery changed. 

"Woah!!" He bent backwards and barely missed a swing from a gladius. Kharis stumbled and dodged as Cecil continued to attack. He was up on the hill with the tree, though they were moving down and up the hill in battle. Kharis spotted Celeste and Trina by the tree, but he couldn't tell what they were doing. 

"You _μπάσταρδος_!!" Cecil swung and thrust Leaf towards him, their voice full of bitterness and anger. Kharis saw tears on their face. "You KILLED him!!"

"Cecil, stop! I didn't-- AH!!" 

Cecil cut Kharis in the side. At the same time, he tripped on a rock and fell backwards. They were further up the hill than he thought, and he landed by the tree, where Celeste and Trina were…

… sawing it in half.

"Celeste!" Kharis cried, holding his side. "Trina, don't!!"

The tree fell down and crushed Kharis's legs. He let out an ear piercing scream that echoed through the Underworld and scared Furies out of trees like birds. As Kharis yelled out in pain, he noticed his voice was… Deeper. And as he tried to push the tree off his broken legs, he saw that one of his hands only had 4 fingers. His ears started to ring again, and his body felt numb. He whispered to himself, delirious. 

"It couldn't be… what..? I couldn't.. no. No.."

Kharis turned his head and looked toward the river. It was glowing yellow. 

Cecil stepped forward and planted a foot on the tree trunk, sending blinding pain through Kharis's legs. He couldn't hear their voice, but he knew what they asked.

_Where. Is. My mother._

Kharis responded. He couldn't hear himself, but he felt his mouth move and Cecil stepped away. They wiped their tears and turned, running down the hill. He watched Celeste and Trina run after him. Then, the scene changed again.

Kharis was still on his back, but his legs weren't broken and he had all 10 fingers. He didn't have a wound in his side, and he hummed a little tune to make sure he was still himself. Kharis Brightly. 

Although he was relieved to be back in his own body, his surroundings weren't as soothing. There was no light, other than the light coming from himself. As his eyes adjusted, he saw light coming from his left, too. He turned his head and almost gasped at the sight.

Persephone laid there, curled up on the ground, as if she was napping. Flowers and vines grew around her like a makeshift bedspread. She had a few wounds and bruises, her gold ichor staining a few blossoms and blades of grass. Other than that, she looked unharmed and peaceful.

"You don't know what's happened, do you?" Kharis asked quietly. "You have no idea how far Cecil will go to save you."

He turned his head and looked upwards. He noticed a bit of his own blood stained the ground beneath him, like he was a squashed bug on a wall. Kharis shook his head with a sigh.

"I don't think you'd _want_ to know, either."

"Want to know what, sir?"

Kharis opened his eyes and stared. There was a woman in front of him with a clipboard and a pen. His arm was loaded up with IV tubes and bandages. He looked around frantically and recognized the iconic look of a hospital room.

He wasn't _afraid_ of hospitals, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either. He tried to move in his bed but was stopped by the sensation of more IV tubes in his other arm. 

"I… W-what was the question?" He asked the nurse. "What happened, where- where am I?"

"You had a seizure, dear," the nurse placed her had on his arm. "At the grocery store. You're in a hospital."

"Ma'am, I need to go. I need to leave." Kharis shivered in the cold air, feeling squeamish all of a sudden. "Right now."

"We can call your parents as soon as possible, but you're not leaving until we figure out what caused your seizure." The nurse sat down at the desk next to his bed, clicking around on the computer. "Now, have you had a seizure before? Have you been diagnosed with epilepsy?"

Kharis didn't like controlling the mist, but the nurse wasn't listening. He really had no other options. He snapped his fingers, "Disconnect my IV and go get my clothes."

The nurse's eyes went blank and cloudy. She stood and did as Kharis instructed, even placing cotton balls and tape over the places where the IV were on his arms. He changed in the bathroom down the hall, then came back and snapped again.

"You will escort me out of the hospital with my groceries and destroy any of my files." It was best if the hospital had no record of him. 

The nurse nodded and lead him to a spare room. He collected his groceries and slid on his coat, being lead straight into the lobby and signed out. Kharis speed-walked out of the hospital before any other staff could stop him. Now he was outside, holding Greyson's groceries, with no clue where to go. 

He could've been asleep for days, for all he knew! Cecil could be on a train to Ohio, continuing their quest without him. As the memory of his vision washed over him, Kharis began to think that was the smartest move they could make. He began walking down the sidewalk, trying to think. 

Kharis thought of the prophecy. _The Styx will take a drop of sun. Into hell will fall the twisted one. Trust not the crow who flies a dove._ Was he the crow? Was he going to betray Cecil? They were fighting in his premonition. Celeste and Trina dropped a tree trunk on his legs!! He would have to do something very bad to warrant such drastic measures. The thought of betraying his friends, combined with the whiplash of his seizure and vision, drove Kharis up an emotional wall. The snow had turned to a light misty rain so no one could notice the little tears that ran down his face. He was terrified. He was lost. He was alone.

The tall demigod took shelter by an empty dumpster. The wind blew the rain at an angle, do sitting behind the dumpster created a little dry space for him to sit and rest. Kharis ate a few of Greyson's strawberries to put him in a better mood. No more sulking- he had to find a solution, or at least a backup plan. If whether he was going to make it through this quest or not, he had to warn somebody. Kharis took a golden drachma out of his pocket and thought. He wasn't going to tell Cecil or the others, because then they'd try to protect him and seal his fate. It had to be someone disconnected from the situation. 

Kharis looked towards a little rainbow he could see in the misty rain. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." He tossed the drachma, "Show me Harvey Vega."

The mist shivered and bubbled into the shape of an iris message.

A young boy's sleeping face appeared in the mist. He had lightly tanned skin and red hair, almost like Cecil Parker, but a more natural shade of ginger. He was around 16, sleeping on top of his covers and wearing a crop top as pajamas. Kharis always thought he was insane for doing that, but with the bipolar weather, maybe the camp was going through a heat wave. 

"Harvey," Kharis half-whispered. "Harvey, wake up."

"Asdfhsih…."

"Harvey!"

"Ashdj… mmmmmh…" Harvey's hand rose to his face, rubbing his eyes. "5 more miiiinutes.."

Kharis resorted to one of his old counselor tricks. "Harvey, if you're not out of bed and dressed by the time I count to 10, you're doing all the cabin's chores for the day.

"AHS AAH!!" Harvey sprang up and basically fell out of bed. He almost ran to his dresser before seeing the iris message. He squinted through the light, "Kharis? Oh my _gods,_ you scared me!"

"Shhh," Kharis pressed a finger to his lips. "Everyone's asleep. Go outside."

"But it's hot outside."

 _"Please_ don't wake them up. I can't be on this call forever."

The ginger demigod rubbed his face as he exited his cabin, the iris message following him. The humidity made his hair frizz almost immediately. 

"If it's so hot, why'd you wear a bandana to bed?"

"Because it was cold when we went to sleep!" 

The two laughed, Harvey starting to wake up and Kharis starting to calm down. He was happy to see that his cabin- and the rest of camp -was unharmed. Whatever was changing the weather hadn't attacked.

"I'm super happy to hear from you, but aren't you on a quest right now? How do you have time to call me?"

"Quests are way different than you probably think they are, Harvey." Kharis sighed, "And this isn't my quest, it's Cecil's. So I have some downtime." 

And he definitely had downtime now, so Kharis summarized his entire adventure for Harvey. He started with Apollo's chariot, which Harvey already knew about because it landed right in front of their cabin. He poured as much detail into it as possible. He wasn't looking forward to explaining the reason he actually called.

"Did you know that Greyson was an Oracle while you were at Harvard?" Harvey sat on the grass with his legs crossed.

"I… don't remember," Kharis blinked. That was a good question. "But anyways, Harvey… I didn't just call you to check in," he anxiously twisted a lock of hair. "I need a favor. Or, I guess its not really a favor."

"What do you need?" Harvey sat up straighter, his attention piqued. "You name it, I'm ready to help! Michael is already doing your chores."

"Mmmm. Yeah, you're going to do my chores now." Kharis took a deep breath, "because you're the Apollo cabin counselor."

Harvey's jaw dropped for second. A moment of silence passed and he tried to laugh it off. "Uuuh.. Hahaha, nice one Kharis! I can't be counselor because that's _your_ job, haha! Just because you're off on a quest- if anything that makes you more qualified!"

Kharis awkwardly laughed along, but shook his head. "Uuuuh, I'm serious, Harvey. I-I'm…" A lump formed in his throat, "I'm not joking. This quest is going to be, uh, very long, and…. I don't want my family to be.. alone."

Alone like him.

"So you're the counselor now!" Kharis forced a grin. "You're in charge, and I trust you. You're 2nd oldest, anyways. It was only a matter of time."

Harvey looked uncharacteristically hollow. Usually he was a goofball and always cracked jokes, bright as a star and ever the optimist. His blank face cracked a smile as Kharis babbled on. His iconic grin returned.

"Okay.. Great. Awesome! I promise I won't let you down. I won't let the cabin down, either!!" A spark of determination lit inside of him. "I'll hold down the fort until you guys get back. Tomorrow I'll tell cabin 11 that you guys won't come back for a while. Then they won't worry about… Celia?"

"Celeste. Her name is Celeste. She glued your guitar to your back once."

"Oh my GODS. I remember her now."

Kharis laughed, a weight lifted off his chest. Cabin 7 had a leader. They would be fine, whether or not he made it back to camp. 

"Thank you, Harvey. I can't explain how… How much it means to me. I don't know who I'd call if you said no."

"My pleasure. And hey! Being counselor is one step closer to getting a quest!"

Kharis nodded, trying to mask his dread with a smile. "Right… Right. Again, thank you. I'll call Chiron later so people don't think you're lying. Now back to bed, Harvey."

The ginger demigod looked over his shoulder at the horizon. A golden glow outlined the forest behind him. Then he turned back to Kharis, a little less cheerful. "Kharis, is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Kharis tensed. "No, nothing's gone wrong, I guess. The quest has gone smoother than I expected, actually-"

"I wasn't talking about the quest," Harvey interrupted. "I was talking about you. Why didn't you call Chiron so he could tell me and do all the training and stuff?" He furrowed his brows, "Why did you call me?"

Kharis thought about Edgar Allen Poe's short story _The Tell-Tale Heart._ He hoped Harvey couldn't hear his heart thump in his chest, or see the anguish he couldn't hide on his face. "I called to tell you that I won't be coming home for a long time. And I need you to take care of everyone while I'm gone."

Harvey stared at him intently. "And that's it?"

"And that's it," Kharis echoed. "Now off to bed, Harvey."

"But-"

_"Goodnight."_

Kharis waved his hand through the iris message before Harvey could get in another word. 

_Trust not the crow that flies a dove._

The blonde demigod hugged his knees to his chest. 

"I don't think I want to know, either."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harvey belongs to @markiehh on Instagram!! I am definitely going to draw him next
> 
> I promise I'm working on writing but I own 4 birds and I have school n stuff
> 
> I'm figuring out the pacing between the next few major plot points to please be patient ✌🏻💞


	18. Almost Dying Again (Kinda)

"Cecil, please sit down. You're ruining my carpet."

I looked down at my feet. There were two lines on the rug where I'd been pacing back and forth. "How long now?"

"8 hours," Celeste yawned into a pillow. "Maybe longer."

"Where could he be?" I ran a hand through my hair, "He had the safest job. It was just groceries."

Greyson sipped a cup of tea, sitting on the couch like a Victorian monarch would. "He's fine, Cecil Parker. He'll be back any moment now."

I wasn't happy that Greyon was so calm. It had been 8 hours since they sent us on this stupid fetch quest and Kharis was missing. The grocery store was only 2 blocks away. How could he get lost?

"I-in the meantime," Trina spoke hesitantly, "we should review our new tools."

"Yes, great idea Trina." Greyson turned their head to her, "You go first."

"Uuuh."

Her face went red as she stared at them. As I sat by Celeste on her couch, I could see the gears turning in Trina's head. She sat up straighter and pulled a skateboard out of her pouch. 

There was a silence.

"Really?" Greyson squinted. "That's what you got?"

"Hey. Skateboards are cool," I cut in. "And now I can keep up with everyone because I'm the shortest."

Trina raised her eyebrows, "Do you know how to skateboard?"

"No, but it's never too late to learn."

"Trina," Greyson barked. She flinched and pulled something else out of her pouch. 

She laid glowing golden blanket on her lap. Folded up, it was maybe the size of a record case. 

"Woah," Celeste opened her sleepy eyes wider to see the fleece. "Is that..?"

"The golden fleece?" I finished. Trina nodded. 

"This is something you will definitely need," Greyson pat the fleece. "As well as your dad's lyre, Cecil."

I grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it, digging my nails into the sides. "How do you know it's my dad's?"

"There are only two notable lyres in greek mythology," Greyson mused. "The first lyre made by Hermes. He gave it to Apollo after killing his sacred cattle. The second was your Orpheus's lyre."

"Oh yeaaah," Celeste flopped around to lay on her back. "I forgot you were related."

I blushed. I had mixed feelings about my dad. One, it's just weird to be related to a dead guy; Two, his story was my least favorite greek myth ever. He was really stupid.

"Please give your dad a little more credit," Greyson yawned. "That lyre is going to make your quest much easier, I pro--"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Everyone flinched except Greyson. Trina and I exchanged a look, then got out of our seats and quietly approached the door, hands on our weapons.

"3.. 2.. 1."

WHOOSH.

"Ah!!"

We opened the door and I unsheathed Leaf in defense, but that was totally unnecessary. It was just Kharis!

"Oh my gods!" I put Leaf away and jumped up to hug Kharis, "Where have you been!!"

He stumbled back a bit and caught me, fumbling over his words. "I.. uh.. I just-- I got a little lost."

I dropped out of his grip and noticed that his coat was damp. And his shirt, and his hair.

"Was it raining?" Trina asked quietly, "You should have called us."

Celeste pushed through me and Trina, "So what if he's a little soggy? At least he's home, right!? Come here big guy!"

She stood on her toes and wrapped her arm around Kharis's neck, dragging him down to our level and digging her knuckles into his head. We were all laughing, definitely relieved that Kharis was home, until Greyson cleared their throat. All 4 of us turned our heads in sync.

"Mr. Brightly," they set down their tea. "I'd like to talk to you in my study."

Everyone looked at Kharis, who looked oddly distressed. He let go and stood up straight, walking to the study with Greyson.

"I don't think he's okay," Trina said in a low voice.

"Definitely not," Celeste shook her head. "What do you think happened?"

I felt my heart pound in my chest. As Trina and Celeste returned to the couches, I heard some familiar voices. I turned and looked down the stairs, where the Fates stood on a landing. I clenched my fist over Leaf's handle. 

"Go away," I whispered hoarsely. "I am not dying on this quest."

Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos stared up at me with crooked smiles. I closed the door and turned away, trying to relax.

The 3 of us sat in the living room for what felt like hours. Reading the grandfather clock, it was only 20 minutes. Kharis and Greyson stepped back into the room. Kharis wore a careful smile, and Greyson looked neutral as always.

"Well, I have good news," Kharis announced. "The train is running again."

"You mean the subway?" Celeste picked at a loose thread on the couch.

"No," I locked eyes with Kharis. "He means, the train. The train to Hades."

Kharis nodded. "I checked at the station nearby, just in case. Mortal transportation is still down, but if we can convince Hermes to stop the train here-"

"-we'd have a ride straight into the Underworld!" Trina beamed. Celeste was the only person who didn't get it yet.

"What train? Hermes has a train? Since when?"

"It's technically my dad's," I explained. "Hermes just conducts it sometimes. They made a bet some-thousand years ago, and obviously Hermes lost."

"Huh," she raised her eyebrows. "Well, how do we get to this train?" 

"That's where things get complicated." Kharis sat on the floor next to our couch, "Cecil's brother can summon the train himself because he's a child of Hades. Cecil, however, isn't related to him by blood."

"And we don't have any Hermes kids," Greyson strolled over to their chair. "So the odds of contacting him are minimal. He won't be swayed by a simple prayer like Apollo."

I saw Celeste pout. I tapped my finger on the couch. "Didn't Hermes invent the lyre?"

Trina perked up. "Yes, actually, he did. He gave it to Apollo to apologize for using his cattle as a sacrifice."

"So maybe if we played him a song…" 

I trailed off. None of us knew how to play the lyre. Despite that, Greyson was smiling at us. "Now you're thinking like a demigod, Cecil Parker."

For some reason that remark threw me off. Before I could think about it too much, Celeste stood up. "Well we better get going! Shouldn't bother staying another night here, we have a train to catch!" 

And suddenly everyone was rolling up sleeping bags, grabbing snacks for the road, and discussing directions to the train station. For some reason I was shell-shocked. It felt like I wasn't in on a joke, or that I was different from my friends. Like when people are planning a party right in front of you and don't extend an invitation. Again, I ignored the feeling, rolling up my sleeping bag with Trina's help. In a matter of minutes we were gathered up at the door, ready to go. Kharis, Trina and Celeste started to go and I stayed behind.

"Thank you for your help," I told Greyson. Even though some of their help didn't make sense at all.

The Oracle waved their hand dismissively, "It's likely that you would've gotten by without my assistance. But having guests was certainly entertaining."

I dug the toes of my converse into the doormat, thinking over my next response. 

"If you ever wanted to," I said, "I think you'd be accepted at Camp Halfblood."

I watched as Greyson's face turned pink. They opened their mouth to respond, but then closed it.

"Really, I do. The oracle of Delphi is, y'know…" I trailed off. "We could really use a living oracle. You'd fit right in with Apollo's kids."

Greyson broke eye contact and ran a hand up their arm. "Perhaps at this moment, I would be. But after your quest... I can't be so sure."

I blinked at them. "What?" 

"Just continue your quest, Cecil Parker." They reached out and ruffled my ginger hair, "You have more important people to worry about compared to me."

I still didn't quite understand, but so far Greyson had given me 0 direct answers to anything, so I didn't ask about it. I thanked them again and ran down the stairs to catch up with my friends. 

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

"So any ideas as to how we catch this train?"

Celeste and I walked in the front of the group and Kharis and Trina walked behind us. The sidewalk was a little too small to line up the 4 of us. Right now we were walking in the direction of the train station. Public transport was still down but the lobby was open. 

"I actually think the lyre might work," Kharis said. "Seeing as he invented it. And what god doesn't like some musical attention?"

"Valid point," I said, "but raise your hand if you can play the lyre."

I didn't have to look around to know the outcome.

"Well if we're using demigod logic, you probably. Do know, Cecil." Trina was thinking out loud, "Children of Hephaestus know basic engineering, before they even turn 10. Children of Apollo know- know archery from birth. Orpheus is a prominent figure in greek mythology. Musical ability is likely in your blood."

I'm glad it was still dark outside, because I felt myself blush. "We can try it."

"Aww, are we gonna hear Cecil play a song?" Kharis gushed. He was acting normal now that we had left Greyson's apartment. "I'm so excited!"

I impulsively looked over at Celeste. She was looking ahead with a simple smile, not paying attention at all. She might've been daydreaming. I turned away.

"I'll try it," I repeated, "but everyone has to stand outside while I'm in the lobby. Or you guys go in and I stay outside."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Kharis reached up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you're a great singer."

"It's not a matter of whether I'm good," I blushed again. "It's just… I'm not really a music person. The song's gonna sound dumb."

"So you'd rather sing ah.. A dumb song alone to a god. Than surrounded by people you know?" Trina chuckled. "You, uh have weird logic."

None of them fought me about it. Trina was right, my reasoning was flawed, but I didn't really care what Hermes might've thought about my singing. It was more embarrassing around my friends. Everyone waited outside and I stood in the lobby alone. There were no mortals there, and the receptionist was sleeping on the desk. I spotted a bit of dark hair through the door window. Celeste was definitely eavesdropping. 

Don't focus on her, I sat down on the bench. Just get this over with.

I pulled the lyre out of my backpack. I didn't even know how to hold it properly. Would it be better to stand up? 

"Uugh," I slumped backwards in the bench. "This is supposed to be easy."

I stood up and sat on the other bench. Then I sat on it upside down. Then I stood up in the middle of the room. Yes, I was procrastinating. I took a deep breath in and out, standing up as straight as possible. 

"I don't know if you can pray to ghosts," I said, "but… Dad. Mom is missing." I laid my fingers over the strings, probably in the wrong positions. "I could really use some help."

Breathe in, breathe out.

Ting… tang.

The lyre had a metallic ring to it. Like an electric guitar, but not hooked up to an amp and slightly out of tune. I played a few more notes, trying to find something to work with- a melody or a chord. 

Aha!

D, G F E, A…

I hummed back the notes. There was my melody. I repeated the sequence a few times, humming along. Now, lyrics…. Hm.

"God of travel, god of thieves,  
Grant us safety, help us please  
As we take the road unturned  
As we fail and as we learn."

The ground started to shake. I stopped playing and the air turned thick. I walked towards the train tracks and looked down the tunnel. It was dark, but not just dark. It was a darkness that lead somewhere. Darkness that moved and breathed. My hands were shaking, but I played on.

"Help us find a goddess lost,  
Help me pay the final cost,  
Tilt the scales of nature's wrath  
Set us on a brighter paa-- AATH!!"

A gust of wind suddenly knocked me off balance and I fell onto the train tracks. My back hit the metal rails and I yelled in pain. It didn't last long, but oh my gods, that hurt!! And as I stood up, avoiding any wiring in the tracks I heard something. 

VWHOOOOOO…

A train whistle. 

I turned around and saw lights. Two growing lights, staring through me like eyes, and getting very bright very quickly.

Most people would, you know, get off the tracks, right? Trains have breaks, but they'll stop a mile after they hit you. But for some reason I decided to stand my ground and play some more. My voice shook,

"Fix the present, fix the past  
How long will this winter last?  
Mend the hero's broken bones  
Guide him to a safer home."

Who was I even singing about? I didn't know anymore. 

I sang a few more lines, but I couldn't hear myself over the train. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, ready to be smashed into a pancake by the Harrisburg public transportation department. The train's lights shined through my eyelids, filling my vision with red. Red like the Underworld. Red like blood.

But then it was quiet, and the light stopped getting brighter. I opened my eyes and was greeted by the shiny solver pilot of a huge, pitch black locomotive. Again- not just black. It was practically the void. The void with glittering silver accents on the side, including a huge decal that read: HADES EXPRESS.

I clutched the lyre and took deep breaths. My hair was tousled from the wind and rail dust fell into my eyes, making them water, but I didn't blink. I didn't move a muscle. I started into my reflection, my two blue eyes shining off the silver surface.

A loud HISSS rang through the air and the train door opened. A tall man dressed in a black stepped out, lean and limber like an athlete.

"By the gods, Kero. Give the train a minute to warm up before you…" 

He sounded irritated, but trailed off and looked around the empty lobby. Then he turned around to get back on the train, and we locked eyes. He blinked, towering over me like a skyscraper. 

"Cecil Parker?" He asked.

"Y-yes." It was hard to keep my voice steady. I was still trembling from almost being hit by a train.

The god raised an eyebrow. Then he squatted down and reached over, lifting me off the train tracks and holding me in the air like a stray dog.

"I didn't know you could summon the train," he said bluntly. 

I shook my head, "Me neither."

"You know who I am?"

I nodded. This I was confident about, "You're Hermes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i almost pasted the chapter into the summary lmao enjoy
> 
> not much happens here but I wanna post Something to build up my motivation. we're officially approaching the climax, so stay tuned!


	19. The Hades Express

"So, may I ask how you kids got this far?"

Hermes lit a cigarette, sitting on a seat across from us. Trina, me, Celeste and Kharis had tossed our stuff up and down the train walkway so we had plenty of room for the 4 of us and the god. Trina seemed tense, but she was always that way. Celeste was clearly ecstatic to meet her foster-godly-parent. Godly foster-parent? Whatever.

"Mostly luck, I think." I took a bite out of a beef jerky strip, supplied by Mr. Hermes. "And Kharis and Trina's common sense."

"And so, what have you been doing, dear?" He eyed Celeste either warmly or critically. His hat cast a shadow over his eyes, so it was hard to know for sure. 

Celeste was holding my hand, and nearly crushed when Hermes shifted his attention to her. "I've… Found places to sleep," she said shakily, "and I've found us food."

"You mean stolen them food?"

She lowered her head like a sad puppy. Hermes smirked and laughed, smoke puffing out if his mouth like it was a chimney.

"Miss Astrepi, you know better than to think I'd be disappointed that you're a thief. You're a gambler, too- a cheater."

I glanced at Celeste, "He has a point."

She leaned back in her chair with a nervous smile. I couldn't imagine what kind of emotional rollercoaster she was going through right then.

Actually, yeah, I probably could have imagined it. Probably something similar to when I first met Hades.

"Well then," Hermes stood with his cigarette, "I appreciate the company. But I must take my leave."

"Aren't you, er, driving the train..?" Trina raised a brow.

The god shook his head, "It is no coincidence that you happened to summon the train here of all places. I have business. Unless one of you is a conductor, the train is useless until I schedule it's next move."

"What!?" 

With almost comical timing, everyone but me stood up and exclaimed with disbelief. 

"B-but Cecil's song!" Kharis said, "And we have no other transport to the Underworld. Surely saving Persephone is more important than--"

"A lowlife minor goddess is more important than Olympus's pre-planned agenda?" He scolded, "No. she is not. You should be thankful I even heard Cecil's prayer. That I'm standing here right now!"

"What if we make a bet?"

I tensed as Celeste spoke up. I know we were just at a casino, but gambling with a god was different than with a monster. Instead of getting our heads bitten off, we'd probably get turned into dust bunnies.

Hermes eyed her carefully and flicked ashes off of his cigarette. "... I'm listening."

"Uuh…." Celeste looked around, as if looking for ideas. "Okay. I have a number in my head. It's between 1 and 5000."

"Oh my gods," Hermes scoffed. "This is ridiculous."

"1687," I said, without hesitation. So far Celeste's seemingly insane game plans have worked out well for us. That meaning: she hasn't gotten us killed yet.

The god huffed, "4000."

Celeste grinned. Part of her looked innocent, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "The number was 5. Cecil wins."

Hermes frowned. "Surely you changed the number."

"What, you really can't believe you lost?" I turned to him, annoyed. "We were both way off and a deal is a deal. If you really don't want to take us, then don't. But Hades will be hearing about this when I get home, and you will probably be in trouble."

Hermes scowled in response. "Is that a threat, kid?"

"It could be," I shrugged. "If the shoe fits, Lord Hermes."

The god dropped his cigarette and stepped on it, grumbling under his breath. "Fine, brat. But we have yet to discuss a payment."

That certainly got our attention. "Payment?" Kharis blinked, nervous. "Um.. I don't think we have any drachmas, sir."

"Good thing I'm not interested in money, then." Hermes rolled his eyes, "The weather alone has knocked out many monsters on the surface, so the Underworld has been more crowded than usual. This train has been… Infested, one could say."

"Infested?" I repeated, "With monsters?"

"Yes, Echo, monsters." Hermes smirked, "But you grew up downstairs, Prince Cecil. A few little monsters shouldn't scare you much, should it?"

I took my eyes off Hermes but I knew everyone was looking at me. I clenched my fists, "What kind of monsters?"

The god crossed his arms and smirked. "We'll see later. Whatever damage you do to this train comes out of your college fund."

\- - 🙕 🙖 🙗 🙔 - -

"So while we wait for some monsters, we should play an icebreaker ga--"

"Actually, Celeste. I have, um, I have something to say."

It was about half an hour into our trip when Trina first spoke. She opened her grocery bag and reached around inside.

"I didn't-- I didn't come with you guys… just to find Persephone."

She pulled a scroll out of her bag and a large hunk of black material. It looked like a rock.

"Are you sabotaging us?" Celeste used my shoulder as a support and placed her elbow there.

"N-no!" Trina shook her head, "No, I would never. Persephone must be found, we have to figure out what's changing the weathe--"

"Then it doesn't matter," she said bluntly. "You're still on our side, and we're not mad. Right?"

Kharis and I exchanged glances, but nodded. 

"That was… a little blunt, Celeste." Kharis moved seats to sit closer to Trina. "Why are you on this quest, then?"

Trina shrunk in her seat. She put her grocery bag down on the floor. "I mentioned to Cecil… That I used to live on Mt. Saint Helen's. In Hephaestus's workshop, with my brothers and si-sisters. But, uh…"

She looked around, as if she needed help forming the right words. Kharis placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright. Go on."

Trina leaned back in her seat and took deep breaths, "But there. Was. An accident. And I-- Hephaestus doesn't think. I should live there anymore, s-so he sent me to camp 3 years go. And I want to go home."

I tilted my head. "If you mean you thought you could hitch a ride back to Mt. Saint Helens, I'm pretty sure that's on the other side of the country."

"Oh, no no!" She shook her head. "That's not what I meant, at all. No. I'm going to the Underworld to- to make something."

She held out the scroll and I unravelled it. It was a messy blueprint of a large bident, the careful graphite details smudged and smeared from reckless handling of the paper. 

"A bident? For…" 

"For Hades," Trina finished my sentence. "O-or, uh, Kero I suppose… Seeing as he'll be the king soon."

Celeste took the blueprint to get a closer look. I turned and noticed Kharis's worried face, like his gut was twisted in knots.

"Hades's last bident was destroyed in the war," he said softly. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Trina tensed ever-so-slightly. 

"I-I don't know, just…" Kharis gestured in the air, looking for the words. "Fate works in mysterious ways. Hades's weapon was probably broken for a good reason, right?"

I stared at Kharis and tilted my head. I thought he'd be happy for Trina- happy that she had a life goal and was now brave enough to pursue it. 

"I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all…" Kharis knew we were staring at him. "I don't know how to explain. Why don't you make a weapon for someone else, Trina? You're the best blacksmith at camp, y'know?"

Trina rolled her eyes and snatched the blueprint away from Celeste, "A p-pile of useless junk says otherwise. Charles Beckendorf says otherwise-- if I were the best, they wouldn't be so overprotective!! I ha-have to prove that I'm worthy of-- of of being a child of Heph-phaestus!"

I noticed that Trina tended to get fired up when she was serious. Literally, her hair was starting to glow like a flame, and smoke seeped out of her fabric gloves like they were evaporating.

Kharis leaned back and placed his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry for objecting," he said in a small voice. "I shouldn't act like I know what's best for you."

The train was quiet for a moment. Celeste reached over and grabbed Kharis's hand with a little smile.

"You're a libra," she said. "It's in your character to know what's best."

After another beat of silence the train erupted into laughter. 

"Ahahaa!! Oh my gods, Celeste!" Kharis wheezed, "Do you ever shut up about astrology? That was such a weird thing to say--"

"I couldn't think of anything else!!" She shrugged, "It was an impulse reaction!"

The laughter faded and everything seemed okay again. I was happy for Trina; I assumed she had some kind of anxiety issue, and coming forward like that must have been scary. 

Hermes said the train would be infested with monsters, but that night we all fell asleep without any troubles. I started to wonder if he was bluffing to make us change our minds.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> michigam has officially been placed on lockdown so I have no excuse Not to write @ this point


	20. I Make Another Bad Decision

The first monster came when we were asleep. Rather cowardly, if I gotta be honest, but me and Celeste made quick work of him. I couldn't really tell what  _ exact _ monster it was because it was dark and I was barely awake. After that we decided to split up across a few cars to check if there were any other monsters nearby. Trina even let Kharis borrow a pair of bronze knuckles. Yes, Kharis was a pacifist, but he would at least have to defend himself before any of us came to deal with whatever monster he ran into. Celeste and I were passing through the same cars, I planned on going ahead of her and joining the group back in our original car. She had her bow and quiver, an arrow notched in the string, ready to go. I held Leaf with one hand and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"So.. where did you learn to fight?" She asked in a hushed voice. I was totally awake but she spoke like she didn't want to startle me. I had to think about my answer.

"There isn't much to do in the Underworld when you're not dead," I responded, "so most of the winter Hades had me train with the soldiers and stuff."

"Like… the dead soldiers? Skeletons and stuff?"

"Yep."

"Did you ever fight monsters?" She paused, "Those are in the Underworld right?"

I nodded as I approached the door to the next car, "I've probably fought every monster in the Greek mythology encyclopedia at least once. Monsters aren't difficult, but I'm still not great with fighting  _ people." _

Celeste didn't respond before I opened the door. Thank the gods, too, because in the next car was a giant, fluffy,  _ sleeping _ manticore. 

It was a little silly for me to be scared, seeing as I've fought plenty of manticores. But the idea of a sleeping monster was much scarier than an awake monster. The train rumbled and shook as the monster snored. One big BUMP could wake it up. One wrong step and I could be it's appetizer, and Celeste it's breakfast. I took a careful and quiet stel back--

"!!!" 

I jumped in fright as I felt something on my shoulder. It was just Celeste, but I realized that too late, because the train's violent rumble caused me to lose my balance and fall over. Leaf clattered on the metal floor louder than a pile of pots falling out of a cabinet at 3 am. The monster stirred and started to move, it's eyes opening and head rising off its paws.

_ In case we die,  _ I thought in my head, as if Celeste could hear,  _ I think my favorite color is blue thanks to you.  _ Not sure why that was my thought in the face of death but I didn't have time to unpack it. Celeste picked me up by the back of my shirt and shut the door before the manticore actually noticed us.

"My sword--"

_ "Shhhhh,"  _ Celeste covered my mouth. She held me maybe 5 inches above the ground with one arm, backing away from the door. As I thought I could hear the manticore moving in the car ahead of us I heard footsteps.

"CECIL! CELESTE!!" Kharis shouted, pulling Celeste's arm. I dropped to the floor by their feet as they both rushed away, back in the direction of our luggage, where I could hear roaring and the clang of metal against metal. From my spot on the floor, I could barely get a glimpse of Trina's battle with  _ another _ manticore a few cars down.

"Is it just manticores?" I stood up, talking to no one in particular. "Hermes couldn't have  _ specified?  _ How the hell does a train get infested with manticores!? AH!!"

As if to remind me of it's presence the manticore behind me slammed against the door that separated us. If I faced any more jumpscares that day I would have had a heart attack!! It was ridiculous. I stood up, frozen between two options; Celeste and Trina probably needed my help but without Leaf I was useless against the monsters. But at the same time Leaf was currently stuck behind a door that also protected me from one such monster. The best idea, in terms of survival, would be to stay where I was or hide under a seat while they took care of the manticores.

But Persephone did not raise a  _ coward. _ At least not a useless coward.

I faced the manticore trapped behind the door and ducked down so it couldn't see me through the little window. It thrashed and roared as I got closer, climbing onto a seat next to the sliding door.

_ This isn't going to work,  _ a voice said to me.  _ That monster can smell you. It's going to run right out and turn and eat you in one bite.  _

My hand shook as I reached across the aisle. I gripped the handle and turned, pulling the door towards me so it slid open. The manticore charged out and immediately bounded down the aisle towards the others. I leapt into the next car and scooped Leaf up off the floor.

"HEEEERE KITTY KITTY!!" I shouted and ran forwards. As the manticore began to turn I jumped with all my might and swung Leaf down into it's back. As soon as the sparkling bronze tip made contact with the manticore it roared out in pain, dissolving into dust underneath me. 

_ No time to catch your breath,  _ I looked up ahead at the others. Celeste and Trina were surrounded by manticores and Kharis was in between them. I couldn't even see what he was doing, if anything at all. I ran forwards to help them, but something sharp and heavy pounced onto my back and ripped into my flesh. 

I screamed as the manticore stood over me. I felt my blood soak my shirt and pour across my back. Another manticore must have been in the car further behind me and it's claws were not embedded in my skin. The wounds could have dug all the way down to my bones. I nearly passed out then and there, the pain was too much and I had no escape. I screamed and tried to thrash around in defense but the monster's weight kept me pinned to the ground, crushing my torso between it's paws and the cold metal floor, which was now painted a deep red.

The manticore's shadow lightened and I braced myself. I sobbed and screamed as I imagined it leaning down and biting my head off. But it didn't happen, and the weight above me suddenly disappeared. 

"Cecil!!" Trina slid across the aisle on her knees and lifted me up by the shoulders, retrieving her hatched from a newly town seat cushion. I must have been having an out of body experience because I couldn't muster the will to move until she had dragged me towards Celeste and Kharis, who were struggling to defend themselves against even more monsters. When she let me stand by myself I held onto two metal poles, trembling and facing the entrance-slash-exit, my torn back facing my friends fighting for their lives.

For a brief moment the pain faded. I couldn't feel the rumble of the train and I couldn't hear the right to either side of me. The Fates sang and harmonized in my head, wailing like a trio of wounded birds. Echoing like the river Styx itself down in the Underworld. In that moment I felt my fight or flight response take a hold of me. Through the window, I could see trees. 

_ You know those trees. _

I squeezed between everyone and grabbed two of our bags, I couldn't tell whose. I reached forwards and pulled the emergency lever on the train door, and it swung right open. I nearly fell out, but I managed to turn and grab Trina, Celeste and Kharis in my arms. As my senses returned to me- my hearing, my touch, my  _ panic- _

I pulled my friends backwards and jumped out of a moving train, into a forest of evergreens. Darkness consumed my vision as I watched the train get smaller and smaller as we fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie my favorite plot point comes in the next chapter so it's gonna be way easier to write now that this one is done


End file.
